A Story for Victoria
by YamiHeart
Summary: The land of Fabulacor is divided into four kingdoms: Hearts, Spades, Clubs, and Diamonds. Guided by their goddess, Fortuna, the subjects of these Four Kingdoms live, laugh, and love. However, hiding in the shadows of the past there are truths known only by a select few. Enter young Victoria (Monaco), who loves to hear her Nana's fantastical stories of a time long gone.
1. Bedtime Stories

Hello! Thank you so much for deciding to give _A Story for Victoria_ a chance. I've planned this story (and many scrapped iterations of it) for at least five years, and it's taken me more than two years to write it. I know the Hetalia fandom is nowhere near as strong as it used to be, but it's okay because I think that in some ways this story isn't a Hetalia fic at all. This AU is so rich with little world-building details (some from within my own brain, others appropriated from what I've seen my fellow writers and artists do) that I genuinely think anyone can enjoy it. In fact, many of my proof-readers had little-to-no knowledge of Hetalia at all, and they still loved it! Their support kept me going, and they're the reason this thing is getting finished at all.

If you want to use my story to introduce people to Hetalia, go ahead! If you want to show my story to people just because you think they'd enjoy it, I'd be honored!

If you have no interest in reading the above block of text, that's fine, but this next section might be helpful to your reading of the story. I took some liberties with the human names of the Hetalia characters (most obviously Monaco), and so to erase any confusion due to spelling differences or the use of unfamiliar names, I'll list the names of new characters at the beginning of every chapter. In alphabetical order we have:

Alfred: America

Francois: France

Katyusha: Ukraine

Lili/Mutti/Nana: Liechtenstein

Mathieu: Canada

Michelle: Seychelles

Natalya/Babushka: Belarus

Peter: Sealand

Vash: Switzerland

Victoria: Monaco

Any additional notes on translation, word choice, context, etc. will be at the end! Please enjoy!

 _-Year 706 A.B.S. (After Blind Shuffle)-_

"Oh, Mutti, I don't know how you do it."

Lili lingered a second longer on the view of her city twinkling in the twilight before turning her attention to her daughter, Katyusha.

"How I do what, dear?"

Katyusha went to the old rocker her mother was sitting in and knelt down by her side. In the privacy of Lili's bedroom nearly all formalities were dropped despite her status as Queen of the Diamonds Kingdom.

"How you attend so many balls and social functions at this court!"

Lili chuckled softly and ran her fingers through Katyusha's platinum blonde locks. "I can't see us Diamonds having that many more social functions than the Clubs. Does Mama Nat not put you through the same torture?"

"You know Mama," Katyusha replied as she leaned into Lili's touch. "She has no patience for chitchat. The King is the same."

"Well, they are siblings."

"Roderich hosts most of the events for the aristocrats. Mama says he does it to keep his ego big and inflated."

Lili sighed, a semi-sweet smile on her lips. "She never was a fan of Roderich…"

"Besides, the Clubs court is not very interested in me. I don't have a distinctive suit mark like the rest of them, and for most of them that makes me either a threat or a completely uninteresting person. Diamonds is so different! Everyone wants to meet me and talk with me _because_ I don't have a distinctive suit mark yet I'm active in the court! Not only do I have to attend more parties, but I also have to do more talking and socializing! It's all so draining...how do you keep it up at your age, Mutti?"

"My poor Katyusha...hey!" Both women laughed at Lili's delayed reaction to her daughter's question. "I am not that old!"

"But you are a grandma now, Mutti. That makes you a little old, no?" Katyusha's head shot up and her eyes went wide. "Oh, my, Victoria! I need to put her to bed before tonight's final party!"

"Doesn't Vash wish to speak with you as well?"

Katyusha groaned and rested her forehead on the wooden armrest closest to her. "That's right, Uncle Vash wanted to discuss my agricultural studies tonight…"

A lighthearted laugh bubbled out of Lili as she sympathetically rubbed her daughter's back. "It will be alright, my dear. How about you relax for a bit before heading back into the Diamonds' social scene and I'll take care of putting Victoria to bed."

Katyusha lifted her head back up. "Really? Are you sure, Mutti?"

"Of course I'm sure! Allow an 'old lady' the pleasure of putting her granddaughter to bed!"

Katyusha's laughter was a mix of amusement and relief. "Thank you. I just need a short rest, and then I'll be ready for all of Uncle Vash' questions."

"All of them?" Lili slowly rose from her chair, Katyusha only helping her to keep her balance as the chair rocked impatiently at her calves. "I'm afraid I don't think that's possible no matter how much sleep you get. When you get Vash onto a subject he's interested in, the questions never stop."

"I got through all of Victoria's questions when she was smaller. I think I can manage Vash."

Again, the two women laughed. The outwardly stubborn and prickly Jack was an easy target of teasing for his sister and niece, but all the jabs they made were made without malice. Vash was a hardworking, dependable, and loving man, no matter what the crueler gossips of the land of Fabulacor whispered.

Katyusha walked with her mother to the bedroom door, but once the door was opened she backed away with a curtsey. The moment the outside world was able to see Lili, decorum had to be recognized. That was one of the many weights that accompanied the Q on the back of her right hand.

"Where is Victoria," Lili asked.

Katyusha picked her head up, but stayed four steps behind her mother. "Oh, she should already be in her room. She fakes interest better than me sometimes, but I could tell she was bored at dinner, so I asked Michelle to take her to her room and play with her until bedtime."

"I see." She smiled back at her daughter. "Have a lovely rest, my dear."

Katyusha placed her hands over her heart and bowed at her waist. "May Fortuna smile upon you, my Queen."

"...May Fortuna smile upon us all." Even after all of the years she had seen, Lili still found it hard to make her smile earnest when she responded to the traditional parting phrase of the land. Fortuna had given her so much happiness, but that happiness had only been given after Lili had given up so much.

Lili quickly shook off the phantom shadows from her smile as she went in the direction of Victoria's room. The room wasn't that far away -perhaps five minutes for her when she was walking comfortably- but every person Lili came across had to be acknowledged, even if only to give Fortuna's blessing. These bows and talks added some time to her journey through the marble halls of Diamonds Castle.

When she did arrive to Victoria's room and opened the door she found a small banquet laid out on the floor attended by stuffed rabbits and bears as well as Michelle and Peter. At the head of the banquet was Victoria wearing a replica of the King of Diamonds' crown. Lili appeared to have interrupted some play speech, but, luckily, Victoria seemed to lose what she had been saying once she saw her grandmother enter the room.

"Nana Leelee," the six-year-old cried as she jumped to her feet and ran to her grandmother.

The corners of Lili's green eyes crinkled with the growing of her warm smile. "Hello Victoria."

Victoria grabbed the fabric of her grandmother's dress and beamed up at her. "You're just in time, Nana! We need a Queen!" Her hands moved from the dress to one of Lili's hands, and before Lili could even try to stop her, Victoria pulled her grandmother further into the room. "Michelle was going to be the Queen, but you'll be much better."

"Ah, but then what will Michelle be," Lili asked, playing along.

"She can be the Ace instead."

"Oi," exclaimed Peter. "Then what does that make me? I thought I was the Ace!"

Victoria snorted. "Michelle will make a much better Ace. She can actually fight, unlike _you_. You're much better suited for sitting around all day and counting money like Uncle Vash."

Peter huffed and playfully crossed his arms over his chest. "But that's so boring!"

"Too bad," Michelle replied with a shrug and a smirk. "I just went from Queen to Ace."

Lili turned her attention back to Victoria. "I guess that makes you the King, then?"

Victoria nodded. "Of course. You can't replace the King!"

Peter moved his arms up to behind his head and leaned back. "If I can't be the Ace, then I'd rather just be myself."

Victoria turned to glare at Peter. "Yourself? But _that's_ way more boring! Come on Peter! Please!"

"Actually," Lili knelt down besides Victoria so that they could be face-to-face. "Peter and Michelle have to go, Victoria."

Victoria frowned. "Awww, but why Nana?"

"Because it's _somebody's_ bedtime." Lili punctuated "somebody's" with a small tickle to Victoria's tummy. The young girl couldn't help but giggle.

"Is it really, Nana?"

Lili nodded. "I'm afraid so. But if you help Michelle clean up your toys fast enough, Nana just might have a bedtime story for you."

Victoria gasped. "Really?"

"Really."

"Okay!" Victoria detached herself from her grandmother and stood with her head held high. "As the King, I request that Michelle help me pick up my toys and I order that Peter go away!"

"Victoria…"

Peter tried to fake hurt, but his wide smile broke the entire illusion. "No, it's fine, your Highness. I can't fight the King." Peter had barely gotten to his feet before he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Victoria was completely unphased by the Joker's dramatic exit and instead went right to helping Michelle clean up. Their combined efforts had all of the rabbits and bears and fake food in their places in no time. While Victoria tried to find her nightgown, Lili went up to Michelle.

"Thank you, Michelle. Would you mind standing guard for us outside of the room?"

Michelle held up her hand in a proper salute. "Of course, your Highness. Goodnight, and may Fortuna bless you."

"Nana!" Victoria came over, her nightgown slightly crooked on her body, and held up an emerald green brush. "Can you brush my hair when you tell me the story, too?"

Lili took the brush and smiled. "I would love to. Now, let's get to bed."

Michelle left the room and took her post just outside the door. Meanwhile, Victoria hopped up into her bed and under her covers. She scooted away from the pillows just enough for her grandmother to sit behind her, and once the two of them were situated perfectly, Victoria went right back to talking.

"What type of story are you going to tell me, Nana?"

"Do you want me to read one of your books?"

Victoria shook her head, which forced Lili to hold the brush just above the young girl's head. "No! Babushka always makes up stories for me when she puts me to bed!"

"Oh? What type of stories does Natalya tell you?"

"Um...stories with dragons and armies and swords and-!"

"I, er, don't have too many stories like that. Is that okay?"

Victoria tilted her head back to look at Lili. Lili was quickly discovering that brushing her hair was going to be close to impossible. "What types of stories do you have?"

"Well...I have stories like the origins of the Four Kingdoms of Fabulacor."

"What's that one?"

Lili gently pushed Victoria's head back down and finally started to brush her hair. "A long, long time ago, a group of people ran far away from the same sort of fighting your Babushka was telling you about. These people all had red marks in the shape of hearts on their left arms, and so when they finally settled down far away from the fighting they called their new home 'Fabulacor' -or 'the story of the heart'."

"That name's confusing."

"Well, I suppose they saw the new land as the start of a new story for them and for their families. The land was rich in animals and fields for planting. They believed that some power had led them to Fabulacor, and eventually this power revealed herself as the goddess Fortuna."

"Nana, is that why people believe the Jack of Hearts can talk with Fortuna?"

"Exactly. The Jack of Hearts is known as the High Dealer precisely because the Hearts' connection to Fortuna dates back so far."

"When did you and Babushka come along?"

Lili chuckled. "Do you mean when did the Diamonds and Clubs begin?"

Victoria nodded. "Yeah!"

"Well, the Spades came first. One day, a bunch of people in Fabulacor noticed that their red hearts rested on top of the big, blue vein on all of their left arms. These people banded together, and they fought the Hearts for a kingdom of their own. The war was long, and very bloody. You can ask your Babushka for the details, but just know that things had to get completely out of control before both sides realized they were being silly and compromised. Fabulacor got split into the Hearts and Spades kingdoms. After some time, people with collections of freckles taking on the shape of a diamond -like I have on my right arm- demanded independence from the Hearts kingdom, while people with big freckles on their right arm's green vein -like Babushka has- demanded independence from the Spades kingdom. The Hearts had learned their lesson, and let the Diamonds go rather peacefully. The Spades had a harder time letting go, and after the Clubs got independence the two kept fighting."

"Like now?"

Lili stopped for a moment, shocked by her granddaughter's perception of international affairs. "...Er...no, not quite. Right now the Clubs and Spades are just throwing tantrums, like Peter did earlier when you said he had to be the Jack. They won't go to war."

"Hmm…" Victoria took a strand of her hair and twisted it around her finger. "I'm not tired yet. Please tell me another story Nana!"

"Another one?" Lili laughed. "Goodness, I'm sorry. Let me try again. What type of story do you want to hear?"

Victoria hummed in thought again. The sound of the brush going through her hair filled the silence comfortably until she was ready to speak. "Tell me...oh! Mama's going to another ball tonight! Tell me a story about a ball!"

"But you've been to so many. Aren't you tired of all those dances?"

"I'm tired of the ones me and Mama go to, but surely Nana has gone to fun ones!"

Lili hummed in thought. "Let me think…"

Memories bounced in and out of Lili's mind until a very, very old one presented itself to her. Just thinking about the memory made her heart grow warm. Yes, this would be a perfect story for Victoria.

"I have one, but it's not technically my story. Someone told it to me a long time ago."

"What's it about?"

"It's a romance."

Victoria sat up a little straighter. "Babushka's stories never have any romance in them!"

"Babushka's funny about that sort of thing, yes."

"Who did you hear it from?"

"You know Mathieu, don't you?"

Victoria whipped her head around to face Lili, and only Lili's quick reflexes kept the girl from getting smacked in the face with her own brush. "I know Mathieu! He's very nice and cool and sometimes when Michelle is busy he'll take me out to the garden to play! He told you this story?"

"A very long time ago. He probably doesn't even remember it now, but it's a true story nonetheless."

Victoria turned back around and began to bounce. "Tell it! Tell it!"

Lili gently placed her hands on Victoria's shoulders to get her to stop bouncing. "First you should know that long before you were born there used to be a very strange way of discovering who the next King and Queen of each kingdom would be."

Victoria understood her grandmother's silent command and stopped bouncing. "What was it?"

"In every kingdom, twenty-six people at the age of thirteen would get either the mark of the King or Queen. The children would then be taught everything they needed to know until both the King and Queen candidates were at least sixteen years old -and this sometimes took a while because while all the Queens were the same age and all the Kings were same age, all the Queens and Kings were rarely the same age. When the youngest group was sixteen, the Kings and Queens began to be paired together, and by the time the youngest of the two was eighteen years old, only one King and one Queen would be left with their marks."

"That's crazy," Victoria exclaimed with a giggle. "Why would they do all of that?"

"The Kingdoms didn't want to. Fortuna gives and takes all of the marks of the Kingdoms."

"Fortuna can be so silly sometimes."

"Indeed." Lili put the brush down and turned Victoria around in her lap. "Do you know how the Diamonds paired their Kings and Queens?"

Victoria's eyes lit up hopefully. "With a ball?"

"Right! Or, to be more precise, a series of balls that happened every night for a month. The only event that beat it in extravagance was the party that followed the coronation of the King and Queen."

"How do you know all of this Nana? How did Mathieu know?"

"Why, because he was there, Victoria. He was a Queen."

 _-Year 1,036 (14 B.B.S/Before Blind Shuffle)-_

The warmth of hundreds of candles and playful music enticed everyone to enter the extravagantly decorated ballroom -everyone except the young man standing hesitantly in the doorway of the great hall. No one had even noticed that he had lingered behind the other twelve Queen candidates, or, if anyone had, they just didn't care.

Mathieu couldn't blame everyone for already disqualifying him as a potential Queen of Diamonds. For one, he didn't really match the Diamonds aesthetic. The Diamonds Kingdom was all about elegance, and so all the men and women had a delicate beauty about them. Well, all of them except for the six-foot-tall farmboy who had never wanted to leave his parents in the first place. Since most Diamonds Kings looked for the smallest, daintiest Queens to be by their sides (to emphasize whatever "masculine" traits they possessed), Mathieu was, to put it nicely, not often asked to dance. In fact, one week in and he had only been asked by one King on two separate occasions. All of the other Queens had been asked by at least six Kings (or, at least, that's what they all giggled about when the Queens retired for the night).

As he made his way to a table filled with treats while trying to attract as little attention as possible, all he could think about was how much he just wanted to go home already. No one wanted him at the balls, and he didn't want to be at them, either. Harvest time was just around the corner, and his parents could surely use his help on the fields. Their little farm, right on the border between the Diamonds and Spades Kingdoms, had felt blessed when his twin brother, Alfred, had gotten the mark of the King of Spades on his shoulder blades. The thought that their little farm could create a King had tickled his Nini pink. However, when Mathieu woke up with a Q on his right hand a few months later, his father looked so worried. The longer Mathieu was in the Diamonds Castle, the longer he was being a nuisance to both these people and his family.

Just as Mathieu was about to take a bite of the fig bar he had grabbed, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Mathieu turned and found the same King that had asked him to dance twice before bowed at the waist before him. Three times? Really? Mathieu was surprised by the woman's persistence in a pleasant way. He didn't want to be there and he knew most other people didn't want him there, either, but it was nice feeling like someone _did_ want him there, like someone was interested in him even though he didn't fit the look of a perfect Queen..

"May I have your first dance of the night?"

Adrienne (Mathieu was pretty sure that was her name) was very kind not to mention she was probably offering to be his only dance of the night. Telling himself he had nothing better to do, Mathieu nodded and held out his hand for Adrienne to take. The next thing he knew, he was out on the ballroom floor, waltzing in the company of three other couples. The height difference must have been awkward for Adrienne (even in her heels Mathieu was a head taller than her), but she didn't let any discomfort or frustration on her part show. Mathieu appreciated that.

They danced without talking for some time. Mathieu had never been very good at small talk (a trait he had inherited from his father). As it had been every time they danced, it was Adrienne who broke the silence.

"Do you have your eye on anyone here, Mathieu?"

This question, however, was more forward than Adrienne's other conversation starters.

Mathieu lowered his eyes. "Even if I did, I would be a bit stuck, since only Kings can ask Queens to dance, and no one is really jumping to ask me after we're done."

"Oh, so if I asked you to be my Queen, you'd say yes?"

Mathieu's eyes shot up from the ground. "What? Um, I mean...what? Why would you ask me?"

Adrienne pulled Mathieu closer so that she could whisper to him. "Can I be honest with you, Mathieu? I'm a bit too average for the Queens here. They'll all agree to dance with me, but they all have their eyes on someone else. Call it love if you like, but I call it...er...dumb. I know you don't want to be here, it's obvious, so why don't you and I pair up now, and when you inevitably lose your mark at the same time as the King you were supposed to match up with loses theirs, I'll snag their Queen. Everyone wins, right?"

Adrienne's plan gave Mathieu everything he wanted. If he paired up with her, he'd be able to stop coming to the balls, and once he lost his mark he'd be free of this royal world forever. It was perfect, but every time he thought it all over, he felt a bad feeling well up inside him.

"But...what makes you think you _aren't_ the King I'm supposed to be matched up with?"

Adrienne snorted. "We're being honest here, remember, Mathieu? I may be average, but average is still better than you. You're probably supposed to be with Raymond, who couldn't even be bothered to learn all of the laws of this Kingdom."

Mathieu's cheeks flushed. "What do you mean by that?"

Adrienne pulled back to shoot Mathieu a cruel smirk. "Look, Mathieu, I know you're from some hick farm, but you can't possibly be this slow. You can dress up a pig, but it will still be a stupid pig. You don't have the background or the brains to be-"

Mathieu pushed Adrienne away from him and then took another three steps away from her for good measure.

"Mathieu, what the-"

"I don't want to be here," Mathieu shouted. Some people began to stare. "And I know most of you don't think I belong here, but it is _not_ because I am stupid! It's because all of you are so shallow that you care more about how strong you look instead of how strong this kingdom can be with the right King and Queen! I'm not saying I'm the right Queen, but all of you don't have the right to say that, either! And, you know what Adrienne? Pigs aren't stupid! They're actually more intelligent than you!" The music stopped. "I…" Now everyone was staring. "I-I have to…" Oh, Fortuna, he had to get out of there!

He bolted past bodies that made no move to stop him in his desperate escape from the grand ballroom. He wanted to go where no one else could find him, and there was only one place like that that he could think of. When he had first arrived to the castle three years ago an odd, red-eyed man named Gilbert had shown him a portion of the Royal Garden completely hidden from view by hedges. The unseen clearing was small and had only a concrete bench and a very young maple tree, but it was the perfect place for Mathieu to be alone with his thoughts. His feet took him to this spot practically on instinct.

It was a dark night with the moon little more than a white sliver on a star-dotted black expanse. However, even in this darkness Mathieu could make out a black silhouette sitting on his cement bench. In three years he had never seen anyone else in his secret garden clearing, but sure enough tonight was the night someone had to be there.

"Gilbert…?" He called out pitifully, hoping it was just that strange man he hadn't seen since he was first shown the clearing.

"Eh….no….?"

Mathieu fell to his knees. It didn't matter who this person was because Mathieu couldn't hold back his tears any longer. He had been insulted and mortified in less than a minute, and he just wasn't strong enough to go through that without breaking down into tears when he was "alone".

Except, he wasn't alone, and his collapse and crying made the black silhouette understandably distressed. What Mathieu didn't expect was for the total stranger to kneel down next to him and wrap a comforting arm around his shoulders. Since the time he had been forced to leave his home, no one had extended such a tender touch his way, and so he couldn't stop himself from clinging to the front of the stranger's shirt. Continuing their kindness, the stranger didn't ask any questions when the tears were pouring out of Mathieu's eyes. Mathieu wouldn't have been able to get out any logical thoughts, anyway. When all that was left of the episode were dry hiccups, the stranger helped Mathieu to his feet and got him to sit down on the concrete bench.

"Are you alright," the stranger, a man, asked.

Done crying about what had happened in the ballroom, Mathieu now had a brand new reason to be embarrassed. "Yes...er….well, no, not really, b-but I do feel better, so thank you."

"Of course. It...may not be any of my business, but what is wrong?"

"I…" Mathieu reasoned that this person had held him while he was crying, so the least Mathieu could do in return was tell him why he had needed the comfort. "At the ball, the only person who has been asking me to dance basically told me she was only doing so because she thought I was stupid."

"What?! How horrible!"

"Yeah...so I yelled at her pretty loudly about how all of the Kings are shallow and care more about how they look than what the kingdom needs, a-and after I called her dumber than a pig the music stopped and everyone was staring so I ran away." Just saying it all out loud made Mathieu want to cry again.

" 'Dumber than a pig'?"

Mathieu scrunched his face in anger. "She told me that dressing up a pig doesn't stop it from being a 'stupid pig'. She was referring to me."

"Then she deserved far worse than being called dumber than a pig!"

"Definitely, but…" Mathieu sighed. "Insulting every other King there is going to make the next few weeks even worse than they already were."

"You were just telling the truth. Us Kings are horribly shallow in this whole Queen-choosing process."

Mathieu's eyes widened and his cheeks paled. "W-Wait...you...you're a…?"

"Allow me to introduce myself properly." The stranger stood up and his black silhouette bowed before Mathieu. "My name is Francois."

Mathieu was shocked into silence. This couldn't have been _the_ Francois that all of the other Queens giggled and cooed about the most. Oh goodness, he was the most popular King candidate of them all!

" _Cher?_ "

Mathieu stiffly stood up. "I-I can go! I'm sorry for troubling you!"

"What?" Before Mathieu could escape, Francois had grabbed his arm. "No, no, no. You do not have to go anywhere, Mathieu."

"You know who I am?"

"I figured out who you were by process of elimination, yes." He released Mathieu's arm. "I am sorry for what Adrienne did to you. I had been under the impression that she was genuinely interested in you. If I had known that she was going to insult you to your face…"

Was Francois...shaking? "No, um, don't worry about it. She surprised me, too." Maybe he could try changing the subject. "What are you doing out here, Francois?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"A-A lot of things, I guess. Why aren't you at the ball, and how'd you find this place?"

Francois sat back down and Mathieu followed suit soon after. "You know Gilbert, yes?"

"The really pale guy with red eyes? Yeah, he was the one who showed me this place a few years ago. He said no one else knew about it."

Francois chuckled. "Funny. He told me the same thing a few weeks ago. Perhaps he'd forgotten that he had told you?"

Mathieu sighed. "Figures..."

"Gilbert showed me this place so that I would have a place to hide if I did not wish to go to a ball one night. He had predicted correctly when he said that my experience would be very...exhausting. I am honestly not trying to brag, but it is very hard to enjoy yourself when every Queen is looking at you expectantly, hoping you will ask them to dance."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure it's crazy tough being so popular." The comment was a little snarky, but it was mostly very playful. Mathieu didn't enjoy being unwanted, but he also wasn't into the idea of having everyone's attention on him (that was Alfred's department). Was it so hard to find a happy medium?

Francois returned the playfulness with a huff. "Obviously you were not one of the people watching me all the time, since you did not even recognize my voice."

"I can't even watch you now. It's too dark."

"Oh?" The black mass next to Mathieu became a somewhat defined face as Francois leaned in close. "Is this better?"

A hesitant laugh bubbled out of Mathieu as he pushed Francois back. "Not really, no. Focusing on blurry parts of a face just gives me a headache."

Francois hummed. "Ah, I see, I am sorry. Would you care to go somewhere with better lighting?"

Mathieu felt his stomach crumple. The last thing he wanted to do at that moment was be seen by anyone. "Uh...n-not really, no…"

A silence fell between them that twisted Mathieu's already ill stomach into knots. He was about to ask if he had done something wrong when Francois laughed. Though the sound was pleasant, Mathieu didn't know how he should react to it.

"Francois…?"

"Oh, _cher,_ " a hand reached out and grabbed Mathieu's own. "Again, I am sorry. You are simply unlike anyone else here."

Later, Mathieu would learn that Francois meant it was unusual for someone not to swoon at his obvious flirting (and that Mathieu's unusual behavior both intrigued and frustrated him). In that moment, however, when Mathieu asked what Francois meant, the King dismissed the question and stood up, releasing Mathieu's hand.

"I think I will turn in for the night. What about you, Mathieu?"

"Well, there's no way I'm going back to the ball tonight, so I guess I'll do the same…"

Mathieu was reluctant in getting to his feet. He didn't want to risk running into anyone on the way back to his room, and he especially didn't want to hear the excited chatter of the other queens as they returned to their rooms as well. Just as his mind was about to descend into a whirlpool of worried thoughts, Francois snapped him into the present by stepping in front of him and into his personal space.

"Do you think that you will be going tomorrow night?"

"I…" Was this guy serious? Mathieu didn't even want to think about having to face everyone again tomorrow. Being ignored because he didn't have the right look for the Queen of Diamonds was too shallow of an insult to sting him once he fell asleep. However, now that he gave everyone a reason to hate and ignore him as a person, going to the ball was going to be a waking nightmare. He didn't want to dump all of that on Francois after everything he had already done for Mathieu that night, so in the end Mathieu said, "I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure going isn't something I get to choose, but..."

"If you do not go to the ball then...then come here instead."

"Here?"

Francois' shadowy form nodded. "I wish to meet and talk with you without having you cry. Would you mind?"

Now Mathieu's head was spinning for a brand new reason. "Ah, um, n-no, I guess n-not, but-"

"Perfect! Then let us meet here instead of going to the ball tomorrow!"

"I-I don't think we can do that. Really, I-"

"Oh, then we can simply show up at the ball for a little bit and then sneak away when no one is looking!"

Hadn't Francois said himself that everyone was always watching him at the balls? Mathieu sighed. It didn't really matter. The Kings of Diamonds were all impulsive, flighty creatures. Francois would probably forget this impromptu plan by tomorrow morning, and after tomorrow Mathieu would find a way to sneak out of the castle and go back home.

"Sure. Let's meet here again tomorrow night, Francois."

Lili looked down at the young girl who was curled up in her lap and smiled when she saw that Victoria's eyes had drifted shut. Lili stopped the gentle carding of her fingers through Victoria's hair as she tried to figure out how she could move the girl to the bed without waking her up.

"Nana…"

The soft murmur caught Lili by surprise, but when she responded her voice was soft and even.

"Yes, dear?"

"Francois...didn't forget...did he?" Victoria sleepily rose her head and cracked her eyes open to look at Lili. "He couldn't have been mean like everyone else, right?"

A warm smile spread across Lili's face. "He didn't forget at all. In fact, the next day he couldn't stop thinking about Mathieu for a second, and that night he couldn't help asking Mathieu to dance."

"Did Mathieu say yes?"

Lili resumed running her fingers through Victoria's hair. About halfway through the story Lili had the idea that her fingers would probably make a better brush than the green brush she was holding, and Victoria seemed to like the gentle touch. "He did, but he was hesitant. He thought that Francois might have been trying to trick him like Adrienne, or, worse, was just pitying him after having seen him cry the previous night."

"Did they kiss after the dance?"

Lili's body shook in silent laughter. "Not right after, no. I believe their first kiss was about a week later, but Mathieu did tell me that their first dance is when he fell in love with Francois because he didn't see pity or mockery in Francois' eyes as they swept across the ballroom."

Victoria let out a small yawn. "What did he see?"

Lili leaned down and kissed Victoria's forehead. "Boundless love."

"For Mathieu?"

"For everyone and everything."

"I don't see that in the King's eyes now."

Lili's smile lost some of its strength as Victoria's innocent (and surprisingly attuned) observation pierced her heart.

"It...may not look like much to you right now, but believe me when I say that our King has made great strides in learning to love again. These years are the brightest I've seen his eyes in a long, long time."

Through Victoria's exhaustion, the young girl was able to find the energy to sit back up in Lili's lap. "What happened, Nana? Where did the King's love go? Why is it coming back now?"

"Oh, my Victoria, I'm afraid that that is another story for another time."

Victoria groaned and fell back onto her grandmother.

Lili could only laugh. "I'm sorry, my dear, but you need to get some sleep. You can hardly keep your eyes open!"

"Nanaaaaaaaaa." Despite the verbal fight, Lili helped her granddaughter lay down on her bed without any real physical struggle.

"I've already kept you up so late. Your mother is going to scold me for sure."

"I won't tell on you, Nana."

"I appreciate that, dear."

Lili pulled the covers up over Victoria and kissed her cheek.

"Goodnight, Victoria. I love you."

"I love you, too, Nana."

 _Nini (pronounced, I think, "neenee")_ : a gender neutral term meant to replace "mama"/"papa". In this case it refers to Tino (you'll find out more about them later).

 _The use of "Highness"_ : About a year into actually writing the story, I read that "Highness" is actually used to refer to princes and princesses and not kings and queens like I use it in my story. I started using "Highness" because I was thinking of card games when Jacks and deuces and such can be "High", and because of that I decided, ultimately, that I would continue to use "Highness" in this story with the understanding that its context and meaning in fictional Fabulacor is different than that of our world. If anyone caught the disparity while reading, I hope they weren't too mad or confused!

If you have any questions or (and perhaps I'm hoping for too much here? hahaha) fanfiction/fanart inspired by ASfV, feel free to send it to me either through , Ao3, or my tumblr (my username is the same on all three).


	2. A Garden Vow

Welcome back! It means a lot to me that you're willing to give chapter two a try after getting through chapter one!

New Characters this Chapter (or characters that were mentioned in passing last chapter and I forgot to add them then):

Arthur: England

Antonio/Captain Carriedo: Spain

Berwald: Sweden

Ivan: Russia

Roderich: Austria

Yao: China

I don't have any specific notes for the end of this chapter, but if you have any questions feel free to ask me them through here or tumblr (again, my username is the same on both) .

Enjoy Chapter 2 of A Story for Victoria!

* * *

 _-Year 706 A.B.S.-_

"Ace reporting to Jack."

The Jack of Diamonds' office had to have been the most organized room in the entire castle. The most detailed economic records in all of Fabulacor lined the walls in gold-painted filing cabinets, each meticulously and accurately ordered for each of the Four Kingdoms and nearly 800 years of their history. The light from the mid-afternoon sun that shone through the large portrait windows behind Vash's desk caused the whole room to sparkle in a sea of yellows and golds. The flashiness of it all was dampened by the sour scowl that sat on Vash's face as he looked up from some paperwork on his desk and met the eyes of the man standing in his doorway.

"Mathieu, how many times have I told you that you no longer have any duty to 'report' to me? As the Ace, you outrank me."

Mathieu dropped his hand from its salute and took a step into the room. "I know, but in seniority you far outrank me." He closed the door behind him without a sound. "Besides, I don't think I'll ever be able to completely shake my days as a Ranked Guard under you."

Vash sighed. "Come take a seat, Mathieu." He waited for Mathieu to sit down in one of the two wooden chairs opposite from him across his desk before continuing the conversation. "How was your trip to the Spades Kingdoms?"

"Well...honestly, not as productive as I was hoping it was going to be."

Vash grimaced. "What happened?"

Mathieu sighed and sat back in his chair. The chair's orange cushion was too thin to make the chair very comfortable, yet Mathieu could see that Vash was sitting in an identical chair on his side of the desk. The Jack was known for sitting behind his desk for hours, but Mathieu didn't know how Vash managed to do it when Mathieu could hardly sit in the chair for a minute without fidgeting.

"The King...Alfred...he won't budge. At all. He firmly believes his country hasn't done anything wrong."

"It shouldn't matter what he thinks. He isn't the one who makes the policy decisions in Spades."

Mathieu's smile was bittersweet. "You know as well as I do that the Spades Parliament more often than not follows royal sentiments on issues like this. Arthur doesn't want this problem to escalate, but it's pretty obvious that he doesn't think his country is wrong, either. Yao's pride is hurt by it all, as well. As things stand, only Berwald is really pushing the court and the legislature to accept some fault and make concessions to Clubs. I did my best to help him while I was there, but I could tell that our voices were starting to get drowned out."

Both men stared at one another and both of their expressions were grave.

"We'll have to rethink some parts of our plan, then," Vash stated. Mathieu nodded in solemn agreement. After a pause, Vash spoke again. "While you were away, Katyusha and Victoria came to visit."

"Oh." Mathieu blinked. "I didn't know they'd be coming. When did they arrive?"

"About a week or so ago. When they return to Clubs next week, I'll be accompanying them. I plan on meeting with Roderich and asking him what the _hell_ he plans on doing about all of this since he's the Jack of Diplomacy and he's doing absolute shit at the moment. I'm not very hopeful at the moment, though; Katyusha and I have been talking a lot and it sounds like Ivan is being just as stubborn as Alfred."

"If that's the case, then what are we going to do?"

"We will not fight. The Diamonds Kingdom has remained neutral in every conflict since the end of the one-hundred years of war caused by the Blind Shuffle. I have no intention of ending our status as a neutral stronghold over some island disputes."

Mathieu held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I wasn't trying to suggest we pick a side and go to war. Dear Fortuna, I fear that doing so would fracture our own kingdom and ultimately tear us apart. But I know you also agree that we have to do _something_ about all of this."

Vash's left hand began to absentmindedly rub the leather rifle strap that cut across his torso. Even when Mathieu had first entered the Diamonds Castle as a young Ranked Guard recruit thirty years earlier he saw Vash stroke that strap when he was in deep thought. It was always a curious irony to Mathieu that the one man who wanted to avoid war the most found emotional comfort in a rifle strapped to his back.

"...For now, I'll focus on my trip to Clubs. If that doesn't get us any results, we'll have to set up a meeting with Hearts."

"I know Feliciano and Heracles don't want war, but the King and Queen…"

"I know, I know…" Vash sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "Why do all these royals feel like they have something to prove? Why isn't peace enough for them?"

Mathieu smiled softly. "It's enough for our King and Queen."

"Damn right it is. If it wasn't, I would have cut off my right hand a long time ago so that I wouldn't have the mark of the Jack and have to keep serving them. Speaking of His Highness, he's been _pouting_ in your absence."

Mathieu's cheeks pinked as he sighed. When would Francois learn to act his age? "I understand. I'll go see him right away."

"He hasn't been the only one asking for you."

The statement caused Mathieu to pause in his rise from his uncomfortable chair.

"Eh? Who else?"

Vash crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head to the side. Mathieu gazed at his former commander curiously, trying to figure out why Vash's mood had changed.

"Victoria."

Ah, so jealousy was what had turned Vash's eyes a darker shade of green.

"Victoria?"

Vash nodded. "She's been asking about you nonstop since Lili put her to bed one night."

"I guess that leaves me to decide whether I should attend to the six-year-old or the sixty-year-old first." Mathieu chuckled at his own joke, and for a second he was sure that he saw Vash's lips quirk up into a smile as well.

"I don't know where the King is, but I believe Victoria is playing in the gardens."

"I'll start there, then. If you see the King before I do, let him know where I've gone."

Vash stood up so that both men could salute to each other properly.

"May Fortuna smile upon you," said Vash.

"May Fortuna smile upon us all," Mathieu replied.

The Royal Gardens were a source of great pride for the inhabitants of the Diamonds Kingdom. With the Great Wheat Plains on the kingdom's southern border and new crops being added every year to the mountainous soil of the north, The Diamonds Kingdom was considered to be the agricultural heart of Fabulacor. The Royal Gardens were thus a large expanse of all sorts of plants tended to by experts from all over the Four Kingdoms. Orchards, rice paddies, and thousands of flowers all coexisted just outside the castle. Areas were open to the public in cycles, and the remaining areas were private spaces for the court. With spring inching its way into summer, the weather was on the cool side of warm, making the day perfect for a game of hide-and-seek.

"Victoria," Mathieu called out. When he saw Michelle standing just outside of the berry patches he was able to get from her that Victoria and Peter were playing hide-and-seek. He just hoped that his arrival didn't cause the young girl to pop out of her hiding place and lose the round to Peter. Luckily, she was the one seeking when Mathieu worked his way through the patch of baby blueberry bushes Michelle had directed him to.

"Mathieu!"

Victoria ran straight for Mathieu as soon as she saw him. Mathieu, seeing that she had no intention of slowing down, knelt down to one knee and caught her in his chest.

"Hello, Victoria! Vash told me that I've accidentally kept you waiting these past few days. I'm sorry."

Victoria pulled herself out of Mathieu's embrace and shook her head. "It's okay, Mathieu! I know that you've been really really busy! A big girl like me knows how to be patient!"

Mathieu made a note to ask Michelle later just how patient Victoria had actually been. "I see you're taking after your Nana, then. Still, how about you tell me how I can reward you for waiting for me so patiently."

"Tell me about the time you and Francois first kissed!"

The bluntness of the immediate response kept Mathieu's brain from really processing what had been asked of him. "I-I'm sorry?"

"Nana has been telling me all about when you were the Queen of Diamonds with Francois, but she won't tell me about stuff like that and I-!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." The bright blush on Mathieu's cheeks betrayed all of his embarrassment and confusion. "Victoria, I've never been the Queen of Diamonds."

Victoria didn't falter. In fact, a rather knowing smile spread across her face. "Nana said you probably wouldn't remember, but I found something that I know will make you remember!" She grabbed two of Mathieu's fingers and began to pull. "Come on, come on!"

Curious, Mathieu got back to his feet and allowed Victoria to drag him through the gardens. The beginnings of strawberries and raspberries were passed by and replaced with large, extravagant greenhouses filled with the plants from both nearby and far off colonies. The greenhouses had been gifts from the Spades Kingdom in celebration of the fixing of the Spades' main clocktower. Though the orientation of the greenhouses were practically a maze at some points, Victoria maneuvered between the buildings without hesitation, and this only made Mathieu more curious. Whatever Victoria was taking Mathieu to see, it was clear she had put a lot of time into finding it and memorizing where it was.

The greenhouses were also eventually passed and the two entered an artificial grove of trees. At the center of the grove stood a tall, strong maple tree that predated the Blind Shuffle. To Mathieu's surprise, it was in front of this old tree that Victoria stopped. She beamed up at him expectantly, but he truly had no idea what to say.

"Well," she pressed.

"This tree is...um...it still produces delicious syrup."

"No, no! Look around, look around!" Victoria released Mathieu's fingers and gestured excitedly. "I know this is the right place because Peter and Michelle and I looked all over for it! Mama told me there was a really old maple tree somewhere in these gardens, and I really hoped that the old tree was the same as the young tree in Nana's story! So, so, so we looked and looked and we found this tree and then we found _this_." She ran over to a piece of concrete jutting out of the ground near the base of the tree. "See? This is the bench! It has to be! So, do you remember?"

Mathieu held in a sigh. He was completely lost.

"Remember what, Victoria?"

"Remember the first time you met Francois! You first met him here under this maple tree! There are no more big bushed or walls here now, but I know this is the spot!"

"Victoria," Mathieu said as he crouched back down. "Francois and I didn't first meet here. We didn't first meet in the gardens at all."

"No, you did, you did! Nana told me all about it! You were dancing at a ball and this mean lady said means things about you so you shouted and ran away and, and, and-"

"Wait, when did Nana tell you this story?"

Victoria paused in her rambling and looked directly at Mathieu. "Before bedtime!"

Ah. Now it made sense. The Queen had used Mathieu as a character in a fairytale she had made up for Victoria one night.

"I'm telling you, Victoria, the King and I didn't meet here."

"But Mathieu-!"

"Hey!"

The voice that came from the sky was as much of a shock as the landing of a lightning strike when there wasn't a cloud to be seen. Both Mathieu and Victoria shot their eyes up just as Peter materialized from thin air. His descent to the ground was fast, but there was just enough resistance that it was obvious Peter was in control.

"So Mathieu shows up and you give up looking for me," Peter huffed. Mathieu had no idea exactly how old Peter was, but Mathieu estimated that Peter's body was that of a twelve- or thirteen-year-old. Whatever his real age, Peter truly fit his appearance when he did things like break into a conversation with the beginnings of an argument.

Victoria scowled. "I knew it! You were cheating, Peter! You can't be invisible during hide-and-seek!"

"I wasn't invisible the _whole_ time! I only turned when I saw you run off with Mathieu because I wanted to make sure _you_ weren't going to cheat by having Mathieu help you!"

"I just wanted to show Mathieu this spot! I was going to come back and find you without cheating!"

Peter snorted. "I don't believe you. Everyone knows that Mathieu's the best at hide-and-seek."

"I wasn't going to cheat!"

"Yeah, right!"

"I wasn't!"

"Alright, alright you two." Mathieu stood up and dusted the dirt off his pants. He put on a stern expression, but in reality he was glad to be off the subject of fairytales Lili had been telling about him. "You guys don't want Michelle to hear you arguing. She gets scary when she's mad."

" _I'm_ the one who's scary?" Michelle approached the trio via the path used by the public when the grove was open to everyone. Her frown was fierce, but the playful light in her eyes gave her facade away. "If I correctly remember the days when we were Ranked Guards together, you're much scarier than me when you're angry, Mathieu."

Victoria forgot her frustration towards Peter and looked up at Mathieu with wide eyes. "You were in the Ranked Guards with Michelle?"

Mathieu nodded and smiled. "Yep. I was a Ranked Guard long before I became the Ace of Diamonds. Enlisting in the Guards was how I got the opportunity to come to the castle in the first place."

Victoria gasped. "Did you live on a farm before coming to the castle?"

"Um...no, sorry. My family is involved in fur trading, not farming."

"It might be hard to believe," Michelle started as she walked over just to smack Mathieu's back, "but when Mathieu and I first met he didn't have any muscles at all. He towered over everyone, but it was easy to kick his butt."

"What do you mean 'no muscles'? I had muscles, just nothing compared to what you had. Not all of us were able to swim the entire length of a river every day before joining the Guards."

Michelle shook her head and looked down at Victoria. "Excuses, excuses, right Victoria?"

Victoria nodded and giggled. "Right!"

Mathieu sighed. Michelle laughed.

"Cheer up, old man! We're almost equal in strength now!" Michelle suddenly stopped her laughing and then sagged her whole body. "Dear Fortuna, thinking about all of this really does make me feel old. Victoria doesn't even know the true face of her Uncle Vash."

"Now there's a man who's scary when he's angry," Mathieu said with a slight grimace.

"The angriest I ever saw him was after you and Lili first met," Michelle added.

"That's right!" Mathieu bent down to pick Victoria up. "Your Nana and I did first meet in the gardens."

Victoria was more than happy to sit in his arms and be at the same level as the conversation, so she didn't fight Mathieu at all. However, the new information excited her, and a sudden bounce from her almost caused her to fall. Thankfully, Mathieu had quick reflexes. "You did?! Where?"

Mathieu exchanged an unsure glance with Michelle.

"I don't remember the exact location," Michelle admitted.

"But we were somewhere in the gardens," Mathieu assured. "Vash was showing us new recruits how we should patrol the area since there are so many places bad people can hide in."

"It was by the yellow lilies," Peter piped in. Everyone turned to look at him questioningly. He crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "The Queen told me all about this after it happened."

Mathieu tilted his head as he desperately tried to retrieve the details of the memory. "...Yeah, that sounds right. Vash was leading us through the flowers when we accidentally came across the Queen."

"At first it was funny because it was the first time we had ever seen Vash get flustered," Michelle said with a laugh in her voice. "Before Mathieu, the Diamonds Kingdom had never had an Ace, so all of the Ace's duties -including training newby guards like us- had always fallen on the Jack, and Vash _always_ took everything he did very seriously. We didn't know his face could do anything other than scowl until we first ran into the Queen. All she had to do was call him 'big brother' once and his whole face went red in embarrassment!"

"It stopped being funny for me pretty quickly, though. The Queen took one look at me and started crying."

Michelle nodded solemnly. "After the Queen left, I was 100-percent-sure Vash was going to kill you on the spot."

"Uncle Vash would never do that," Victoria cried as she tightened her hold on Mathieu's sleeve. "He tries really hard to be nice!"

Mathieu gave Victoria a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, he didn't actually hurt me. Just believe me when I tell you that when you're only seventeen and just looking at you makes the Queen cry, you're pretty sure your life is over."

"Besides," Peter cut in again, "the Queen only cried because Mathieu reminded her of someone she had lost."

Michelle leaned in close to Victoria as if she were going to whisper, but when she spoke her voice was too loud to preserve any sort of secrecy. "Mathieu has a very plain face. He and the King of Spades look like they could be twins."

"Is today just make fun of Mathieu day," Mathieu asked with an exaggerated sigh that made the girls giggle. "Or maybe Victoria only wanted to see me so that she could tease me."

"No! I…" Victoria looked back at the maple tree sadly. "I wanted to hear about you and Francois falling in love…"

Again, Mathieu and Michelle exchanged looks. Michelle still looked amused, making Mathieu question how his friend had ever found the time to be serious enough to achieve the highest ranking in the guards, 10th Rank. Mathieu's embarrassment momentarily left him at a loss, but in the end he decided that there would be no harm in clearing up Victoria's misunderstanding.

"Well, it's really not that interesting of a story, but if you want to hear about how the King and I truly met the first time-"

"Oh, yes, yes!" Victoria snapped her attention back to Mathieu and began to bounce in his arms. "Please tell me, Mathieu! Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaase!"

Mathieu laughed lightheartedly. "Alright, alright! But it really isn't all that romantic. There are no dances or maples trees. I had just been promoted to 4th Rank when your Uncle Vash gave me a very surprising order."

 _-678 A.B.S.-_

"Sir, I...A-Are you sure?"

The question was a mistake on Mathieu's part. Vash's near-permanent scowl grew sharper, and Mathieu instantly regretted what had sputtered out of his mouth as his brain tried to recover from the shock of the order.

"Are you saying that you're not up to the task of guarding the King this afternoon?"

Mathieu forced himself to stand straighter as he shook his head. He would have preferred to focus his eyes just past Vash's head, but the glittering gold of Vash's office blinded Mathieu if he dared to look anywhere other than in the Jack's eyes. "N-No, sir! I just…"

"You just _what_?"

"Guarding the King is typically done by 7th Ranks at the least, and I'm only a 4th Rank!"

Vash's aggravation eased a fraction. "I respect your attention to Rank order, but this afternoon we're shorthanded, so I had to make a decision based on ability rather than Rank. By getting promoted two Ranks in just two years, you've proved your willingness to work hard for this Kingdom. Even the Queen has taken notice, and so when I asked for her input on how to divide the Guards today she suggested that you guard the King. After some consideration I decided to give you a chance. Did we make the wrong decision?"

Such kind praise from both the Queen and Jack awakened happy butterflies into fluttering all around inside of Mathieu's stomach. After the incident where the Queen burst into tears was cleared up, Mathieu had found her to be a compassionate and brilliant woman worthy of ruling the Diamonds Kingdom. Kind words from her were not unusual, but they were always cherished. Vash did try his best to praise younger Guards when they deserved it, but usually his words were halting and awkward. This was the first time Mathieu had heard Vash say something remotely kind to a Guard without looking like he was physically in pain.

Mathieu couldn't help but smile.

"No sir."

Vash nodded curtly. "Good. You should always be on alert for the unexpected while guarding the King, but putting aside the chances of some freak attack the day should be fairly easy. The only person I'd suggest you keep a close eye on today is Captain Carriedo. He's an old friend of the King, but his family has a dirty history of pirating on the seas and trying to swindle the Diamonds Kingdom out of our money. He's a legitimate captain sailing under the flag of Fortuna, but the fact that his ship flies no Kingdom flag makes me suspicious of his alliances."

"Couldn't he just be a purely neutral party?"

Vash let out a small snort. "There's no such thing, Mathieu, and even if there was, Carriedo would be the last man to fill the role. He always has this look like he's waiting for someone to sway him."

"Understood," Mathieu responded. " Ah, will the audiences this afternoon be in the throne room?"

"Yes, they should be. You'll need to escort the King from his room because he's probably still getting ready for the day." Vash looked to the ornate clock on his office wall. "In fact, you should probably go get him now."

The two men saluted and recited Fortuna's blessed farewell. As Mathieu left Vash's office, he could feel the butterflies start up again. He was going to be face-to-face with the King! Mathieu had seen him before on high up balconies and across courtyards, but now they were going to meet and Mathieu was going to be in charge of protecting him!

Mathieu's mind was so preoccupied with these exciting (and nerve-wracking) thoughts that the walk to the King's room took no time at all. The King and Queen of Diamonds did sleep in separate rooms, and this was rather normal in the land of Fabulacor. Sleeping in the same room was the more unusual choice since neither King nor Queen had any power over who they would rule with, so only the luck of receiving Fortuna's blessing allowed true love to blossom between a King and a Queen. Mathieu was aware of only one current King-Queen duo who were so lucky, and that duo belonged to Spades.

Mathieu took a deep breath and knocked on the carved oak door leading to the King's bedroom. The figures of diamonds and stylized lilies that covered the door made it hard to find a spot on the door that didn't press on Mathieu's fingers awkwardly, but despite this awkwardness the sound his knock made was solid.

"Your Highness," he called out. "It's time to start meeting your afternoon visitors."

There was no answer.

"...Your Highness?"

"Coming, coming!"

Mathieu heard the sound of a drawer closing followed by the sound of footsteps approaching the door.

"Why must you be so impatient? Getting ready takes a lot of time and eff-"

The moment the door opened, the King cut off his own words with a sharply-inhaled breath. Despite being a head taller than the King, Mathieu felt small under his intense stare. As an awkward blush splotched across Mathieu's cheeks, words came gushing out of his mouth.

"Please don't cry!"

Mathieu's words did snap the King out of his self-induced trance, but Mathieu's awkwardness folded into embarrassment once he processed exactly what he had blurted.

"What?"

"N-Nothing! The, uh, last time someone cut themselves off and stared at me they started to cry, and I didn't want that to happen again."

Mathieu watched as realization about what he had been doing dawned on the King's face. He was fairly certain he even saw a blush peak out from beneath the King's makeup.

"Ah, I apologize for staring," Francois said. "You were just not who I expected to see. In fact, I cannot say I remember us being introduced."

Mathieu placed a hand over his heart and bowed at his waist. "I'm Fourth Williams, your Highness, and I will be your personal guard today."

"A Fourth Ranked? That is all you are? How old are you?"

Mathieu righted himself. "Nineteen, your Highness."

"Nineteen?" The King sighed in an overdramatic fashion. "You make me feel so old."

"My King, you aren't old at all."

"You flatter me, Williams."

The King smiled, and though Mathieu didn't doubt that the smile was genuine, he couldn't help but notice that there was a light missing from the King's eyes. Mathieu also noticed that the King's makeup was especially thick under his eyes, so perhaps, he reasoned, the previous night had been rough on the King and that day he was too tired to feel the full joy he put into his smile.

"...And now _you_ are the one who is staring."

Mathieu snapped out of his thoughts and blushed down to his neck. "I-I'm sorry!"

The King waved away the apology and finally stepped out of his room. "Do not worry about it. You and I have places to be at the moment, no?"

"Right." Mathieu took a deep breath. He had to relax. The Kingdom was counting on him to do his job and protect his King. "Lead the way, your Highness. I'll be right behind you."

"And then what happened? Did you both fall in love?"

Mathieu chuckled at Victoria's ever-enthusiastic questions. "The day honestly wasn't all that eventful. Besides Captain Carriedo, a few village leaders came to report on how their people were doing. No one made an attempt on the King's life, and the Captain wasn't that hard to handle."

While Mathieu had been telling his little tale, the group had wandered out of the grove and into the main courtyard. The biggest attraction in this space was the grand fountain in the center that flowed into a large pool of crystal-clear water. The water for the pool was pulled (and later filtered away) from the capital city's only waterway: the Collier River. The courtyard and its renown fountain were only open to the public one day a year in celebration of the end of the Blind Shuffle, and the rest of the year only the royals and 9th and 10th Ranked guards were allowed to enjoy the space.

Victoria's expression became very serious. "Mathieu, do you actually love King Francois at all?"

Mathieu ignored the teasing smiles of Michelle and Peter and gazed at Victoria gently. "I do. My love for Francois is richer than Diamonds, stronger than Clubs, older than Spades, and truer than Hearts. Not even Fortuna could break our bond."

There was a hidden power in Mathieu's words that made the whole world go silent after he had said them.

With a six-year-old in his arms, however, this silence couldn't last long.

"But Mathieu, that doesn't make sense! Spades isn't the oldest kingdom, so why would you say your love is older than that?"

"Those are old vows that refer to the bases of each of the four Kingdoms," Peter interjected. "Spades isn't the oldest kingdom, but with the Jack of History and the Ace of Innovation at its court, Spades is the Kingdom of Time. Because of Hearts' tight bonds with Fortuna, it's the Kingdom of Religion. Clubs has the title Kingdom of Warfare, and Diamonds is the kingdom that deals with trade and agriculture and banking and all sorts of money stuff." The Joker lightly elbowed Mathieu's side. "I haven't heard those old-timey phrases in forever. Where'd you get 'em from, Ace?"

"Oh, I, uh...I don't...I don't really remember," Mathieu confessed, his cheeks pinking. "I probably came across them while doing some reading in the Spades Archives."

"Well, speaking of old-timey and Kings," Michelle nudged Mathieu on his other side and pointed across the courtyard to where the King was standing between two hedges, "I think you have an appointment with him."

A gentle smile rested on Mathieu's face. "Ah, I do." He carefully set Victoria back on the ground and said, "I'm sorry, but I have to leave now, Victoria."

She beamed up at him. "It's okay, Mathieu! I want you and the King to be happy!"

Mathieu chuckled kindly. "Thank you. You know, I think your Uncle Vash would be really happy if you asked to eat dinner with him tonight."

"Really?" Victoria turned her blinding smile to Michelle. "Michelle, can we go see him right now?"

"I don't see why not," said Michelle.

Next, Victoria turned to Peter. "Peter, are you coming too?"

"I'd love to, but I've already planned to eat with some other people tonight, so I'll see you tomorrow, Victoria!"

As Peter pulled his signature disappearing act, Victoria looked at Mathieu one last time.

"So...you've never been Queen?"

Mathieu shook his head. "No, not that I can remember, sorry. I mean, if I were Queen, then what would your Nana be?"

"Oh." Victoria stood there for a moment, her face suggesting that this line of reasoning hadn't occurred to her before. "She...she'd have to be the Ace, right?"

Mathieu shrugged. "Who knows?"

Victoria left feeling both excited to see Vash and troubled by the new questions her meeting with Mathieu had presented.

* * *

Comments/favorites/follows are appreciated!

See you next month for Chapter 3: The Queen's Ballad (working chapter title)!


	3. The Queen's Dreams

Hello again! The story is already starting to pick up this chapter. There will be a few translations and story hints at the end of this chapter, so be sure to check them out!

New characters unlocked!

Berwald/Grandpa: Sweden

Heracles: Greece

* * *

 _-Year 707 A.B.S.-_

The earliest fingers of the sun had just brushed the sky when a single motorized carriage pulled up to the Diamonds Castle. A lone figure exited the jade vehicle and walked up the front stairs. At the top of the staircase, two more figures were standing, waiting.

The figure from the carriage knelt down on one knee once she reached the top. "Your Highness."

Lili shook her head and helped Natalya, the Ace of Clubs, back to her feet. "There's no need to worry about formalities this early in the morning. No one's awake to see them observed." She glanced behind Natalya at the carriage. "How's Victoria?"

Natalya followed Lili's gaze. "Asleep. Last night was long and exciting for her, and she only fell asleep half an hour ago. I did not wish to wake her just yet…"

"That's alright." Lili lightly brushed her fingers against Natalya's, causing the Ace to look back at the Queen. Lili smiled. "You and I have some things to discuss, anyway. Michelle, can you watch the carriage while Natalya and I do a little talking?"

Michelle held up her hand in a salute. "Of course. She'll be safe to dream away while under my watch."

"Thank you. Natalya, come with me."

Natalya gave a quick nod of thanks to Michelle as well before she followed Lili into the castle. The halls were empty save for a few posted Guards. The nightwatch had been informed of Natalya and Victoria's arrival, so none of them were alarmed as Lili led the Ace of Clubs to one of the many private meeting rooms in the castle.

The moment the door to the meeting room had closed, Lili threw her arms around Natalya. With the security of privacy, Natalya felt comfortable enough to wrap her own arms around Lili in a tight embrace. It took only a beat for their swelling hearts to sync up.

"I've missed you," Lili whispered.

Natalya hummed softly in agreement.

The two kissed. There was no heat in the contact, only longing and relief. They hadn't been able to meet in over a year and a half due to one obstacle after another popping into their schedules, and the circumstances they finally got to meet under were hardly ideal. Still, Lili felt her body joyfully relax into Natalya's.

"I've been so worried about you," Lili continued to speak quietly after the kiss ended. Gently, she held Natalya's cheek in her palm. Only the faint glow of an electric candle kept them from being cloaked in complete darkness. "It looks like you could use some sleep as well."

"I was up all night with Victoria. It is nothing to worry about." Natalya's eyes were focused down and to the left as she spoke.

Lili's smile was tender. She really had missed all of the quirks of her northern warrior. "You're still terrible at lying to me, _schäri_. Rest here in Diamonds for the day before you return to Clubs."

"I can't." Natalya brought her eyes back to Lili's. "The Clubs Court will get suspicious if I am gone for too long."

"The rest of Fabulacor will get suspicious if you arrive here so early in the morning and then leave."

Natalya's eyes fell back to the left. "...We will see."

There was a pause. There usually was in conversations with Natalya.

"Does Victoria know the truth behind everything that's happening," Lili asked hesitantly.

Natalya began to nervously tap at Lili's back. "No, she still thinks that she is just spending time with her Nana while everyone in the Clubs is busy. I…" The tapping became faster. "I could not tell her…"

"Shhhhhh, it's alright." No one knew better than Lili just how tenderhearted the "Icy Blade of the Clubs" really was. It would be hard to fall in love with someone as distant, cruel, and cold as all the rumors described. "I'll find a way to explain everything to her. She's a smart girl. She'll understand."

"Clubs is just so dangerous at the moment, my _solnishko._ " The faint light of the candle was enough to illuminate something akin to fear in Natalya's eyes. "The Court is especially no place for a child to grow up. The crops are not doing well at all, and the tensions with Spades have not eased at all despite all the work your brother and your Ace have been doing. We get threats everyday from our people, but even more flood in from extremists outside of the Kingdom. I secure the castle's perimeter ten, twenty times a day, yet everyday I fear that this is not enough. Until things calm down, Victoria must stay here where it is safe."

"I knew things must have been bad for you to request that Victoria stay here, but I didn't know they were this bad. No wonder you look exhausted." Natalya's eyes seemed to close on instinct, and Lili gave her some quiet to relax in. Unfortunately, the two of them really did have to talk. There were still so many questions she needed answered. "How is Katyusha? We would be more than happy to take her and her partner in as well."

"She has been," Natalya's eyes squeezed shut tighter in the search for the right word, "strong. More than anything, she has been worried about Victoria's safety. This move will put her mind at ease, I think. I also told her that she could stay here in Diamonds, but she refused." Natalya opened her eyes, and the fear that had been clawing at them was replaced with pride. "The day after she first refused, the mark of Clubs appeared on her right arm."

Lili gasped. "I...I've heard nothing about this! Is this really true?"

Natalya nodded. "We were all just as shocked as you, but the mark is real. We -meaning the King, the Queen, the Jack, and I- have decided to keep the mark quiet because of all the anger and hatred directed towards the Clubs right now. Though we keep the news quiet, Ivan and I are very happy about the suit mark appearing."

"You always said that you were sure she had Clubs blood in her veins even though when we adopted her we weren't sure where she was from."

"Even if she was not originally from Clubs, she has the fighting spirit worthy of the suit. She wants to do all she can as a citizen to make Clubs safe for her daughter again. Her partner, after a lot of private talking between the two of them, feels the same and has decided to stay as well."

Lili's own eyes became sad and distant as her mind wandered to old memories. "I know how it feels to live apart from someone you love without having any idea when the two of you will meet again." Her gaze snapped back to Natalya and the present. "The strength of Clubs truly is incredible, but it's unmatched when the whole Court is united, so while I look after Victoria, make sure to be there for our daughter."

Natalya frowned. "You do not need to tell me this. I will protect her no matter what."

"Yes, I know." She gently stroked Natalya's cheek with her thumb. "But I also want you to let her be there for _you_. You can't protect her and the whole Kingdom on your own." Lili paused to give Natalya a chance to respond, but the Ace had nothing to say. It was time for another subject change. "What is the King doing about everything that's happening?"

"My brother?" Lili nodded as Natalya's prideful look intensified. "Ivan is holding his ground. Our Kingdom will not back down to Spades' bullying. The Bicycle Islands should belong to us, not Spades. We have no warm water ports, and that is all we want the islands for. Spades does not need them; Spades has plenty of more profitable colonies. They only pursue the islands to start war."

Lili's heart skipped and skidded up into her throat. "Is...is that the real reason you brought Victoria here?"

"Lili-"

"Does Clubs intend to fight," Lili asked, her voice finally booming out of the calm whisper it had been for the whole conversation up to that point.

Natalya's features hardened. "We will not back down from a challenge, no."

"Nat, _schäri_ , you can't!"

"You are telling the Ace of Warfare in the Kingdom of the same name not to fight? The neutrality of your kingdom has made you naive, _solnishko_."

" _Natalya!_ " Lili's hands fell and locked onto Natalya's elbows. "The Hearts and Diamonds were physically put between Clubs and Spades for a reason! If Clubs and Spades go to war, all of Fabulacor will be launched into turmoil! You can't let this happen!"

"Not all of Fabulacor." Natalya went to gently peel Lili's hands off of her elbows. Once removed, Natalya held Lili's hands in her own. "Your kingdom's neutrality also keeps you safe."

Lili yanked her hands away. "How can I be happy being safe when the rest of my family is in danger?! I have waited around for so long, sitting by passively as the people I loved did as they wished while they expected me to stay safe and be strong! Natalya I-!" A sob ripped her sentence apart. "I'm not strong enough! Not...Not anymore." Her spirit and intensity collapsed. "Not after all this time. Not after everything seemed to finally be going right."

Tears continued to pour out of Lili's eyes. Just as she was sure her legs would also crumble beneath her, Natalya's arms returned around her and supported her up. Lili, grateful, pressed her face against the comforting beat of Natalya's heart and tried to calm down. She hadn't meant to break down like that, especially when Natalya had so many other troubles on her plate that she couldn't sleep at night.

"I am sorry," Natalya murmured into Lili's hair. "I did not come here to upset you."

"I know….I know. I-I'm sorry, too."

"Do not be. You...I…" Natalya picked Lili's face out of her chest. "You are right. I am tired. The tension between the Spades and Clubs courts… it is poisonous, and it is blinding us to the fact that further escalation will drag all of our people into a slaughter. I am a fighter, I always have been, but for you and our family, I...I will talk to Roderich and see what he and I can do. T...Together."

"You'll work together with your Jack?" A small, wet laugh escaped Lili's lips. "You must truly love me to consider doing that."

"I have always loved you, Lili."

They kissed again. When Lili returned her hand to Natalya's cheek, she could feel the skin underneath her touch heat up. Realizing that Natalya was just realizing herself how boldly romantic her declaration had been, Lili couldn't help but laugh into their kiss.

Natalya pulled away, and the embarrassment on the rest of her face confirmed Lili's conclusion. "B-Besides," the Ace stuttered, "the stubbornness of me, my brother, and his Queen is doing a disservice to all of the hard work our Katyusha is putting in to make Clubs safe again."

"And now you admit your stubbornness. I should cry more often."

Natalya grimaced. "Please don't."

Lili leaned up and pecked Natalya's nose. "I won't."

Together they stood in peaceful silence. With tensions running high all across Fabulacor, being able to enjoy a moment of quiet was the greatest comfort for the couple. Time fell away from them until the light of early dawn was able to peek through the curtains and drown out the lone candle. Natalya noticed this change first (or, at least, acted in response to the change first) and started to dry Lili's cheeks.

"I need to get going," Natalya murmured.

Lili sighed and leaned into Natalya's touch. "Are you sure?" Natalya nodded. "Al...Alright. I'll lead you back out."

The castle was already livelier than when Natalya and Lili had first entered it. The earliest maids were already getting out their mops and rags while some of the lowest ranked Ranked Guards were relieving their superiors from the nightshift. The halls were in no way at their busiest, but the shuffling of feet and the grunting of names felt deafening in comparison to the silence Lili and Natalya had just been sharing.

Outside, the carriage was waiting right where they had left it, but they could see that Victoria was not where they had left her. She was standing outside of the carriage next to Michelle and an additional figure Lili and Natalya hadn't expected.

"Antonio?" Natalya was instantly on edge when she saw the captain, but Lili's question held no obvious sharpness, only confusion.

The man, Antonio, turned as the two women approached the trio next to the carriage. When he saw who was coming, his smile became blindingly bright.

" _¡Mi reina!"_ Antonio took off his hat and bowed deeply at his waist. "I am honored."

"Nana! Babushka!" Victoria happily stumbled over to her grandmothers and threw herself into their legs. "You know this guy?"

"Indeed we do." As Lili spoke, Natalya picked Victoria up and rested her on her shoulder. The weight of her young granddaughter didn't even make the fifty-two-year-old Ace wince. "This is Captain Antonio Carriedo. He is a dear friend of the King."

Victoria's yawn turned into a gasp. "Captain Carriedo?! Mathieu told me about him last time I was here!"

"He did," Antonio asked as he stood up and replaced his hat on his head. "What did he say?"

"He said that my Uncle Vash doesn't like you very much."

Antonio laughed off the unintentionally blunt insult. "I am sure that he said it in a more roundabout way, but I understand."

Antonio may have been able to laugh Victoria's comment off, but Natalya and Lili were shocked into a mortified silence. Lili had to change the subject just to alleviate her own mood.

"I do not wish to be rude," Lili piped in, "but what are you doing out here so early, Captain?"

Antonio shook his head while continuing to smile. "You are not being rude at all! My ship just came up the Collier River yesterday, and so I was too busy taking care of her all day to come over to the castle and pay my respects to you and the King. I wasn't going to bother you this early, but the sunset is one of the most beautiful sights Fortuna has blessed us to see, and I was just walking by when I saw the Clubs carriage sitting in front of the castle! I had to know why the carriage was here, and so I couldn't help but ask Michelle what was going on."

"Loudly," Victoria grumbled.

"Ah, _sí, lo siento._ I did not know that anyone was sleeping inside the carriage."

Out of embarrassment, Captain Carriedo began to play with the chain of his necklace. Hanging from the chain was a beautifully painted symbol of Fortuna. The symbol was a fairly basic smashing together of all four suits of Fabulacor. The base -and the original symbol- was a red heart. Sticking out of the top was what looked like a blue tree trunk, but this was added when the Spades broke off from Hearts and it was meant to make the whole symbol simultaneously look like a heart and an upside-down spade. Inside the bottom of the heart sat a yellow diamond that was layered on top of the green middle club circle (the other two green circles filled in the top of the heart). The layering of clubs and diamonds inside of the heart left very little of the original red, but the color still managed to poke out, and so all four Kingdoms were shown to be equally blessed for Fortuna.

Lili understood her brother's uneasiness over Antonio's lack of loyalty to any one Kingdom, but she wasn't as worried. She had never known a Carriedo to be loyal to anything except Fortuna, and Antonio was no different. Lili may not have been on the best terms with the goddess, but the goddess brought Antonio comfort during the worst storms, and there was no way Lili could fault him for that.

"Anyway," Antonio started again as he dropped the golden chain he had been rubbing, "What does bring the Ace of Clubs here so early in the morning with the little one?"

Natalya opened her mouth to answer, but Lili answered faster.

"Natalya and Victoria have come to stay at the castle for a few days. They are both very tired, so Natalya and I were making sure all of the sleeping arrangements were correct before moving Victoria." Lili saw a twitch of a glare from Natalya out of the corner of her eye, but she ignored the annoyance coming from her partner completely.

"Babushka's staying?" Victoria sleepily wrapped her arms around Natalya's head and let out a soft, "yay". Victoria's display did a lot to swing the silent argument between Natalya and Lili in the Queen's favor.

" _¡Qué bueno,_ " Antonio interjected sunnily, totally oblivious to the subtleties of the mood."It's nice to relax sometimes."

"I agree," Lili replied with a well-rehearsed smile. "Natalya, why don't you go ahead to your usual room and finally get some rest. I'll take care of Victoria."

There was a long, silent pause before Natalya sighed deeply and set Victoria back onto her feet. "Yes, your Highness."

Natalya made her way back to the castle, and as she left Lili felt a chill run up her spine. Lili had succeeded in getting Natalya to stay longer than she had planned, but Natalya's use of "your Highness" was an indicator that Lili's manipulations had put her in trouble. She would find out how much trouble she was really in depending on whether she found Natalya in the "Queen's Quarters" or in a random guest room. Still, no matter how much trouble she was in, Lili would find it all to be worth it if Natalya got even an hour of restful sleep.

" _Mi reina?_ I believe there is someone else who could use some rest, hm?" Antonio's light laugh brought Lili's eyes back to the captain. Her eyes didn't stay on him for long, however, because he was pointing down at her legs. Sure enough, dear Victoria was slouched into the side of Lili's dress while struggling to keep her eyes open.

"I believe you're right, Antonio." Lili knelt down next to Victoria as she let out a light laugh of her own. "Should we get you to bed so that you can rest up a bit?"

Victoria nodded sleepily and soundlessly.

"Alright." Lili stood back up while holding Victoria's hand in her own. Before leaving, she turned back to Antonio to make him an offer. "Would you care to come back later for lunch? I can't guarantee anyone will be able to get the King up for breakfast, but lunch shouldn't be a problem."

"That would be perfect! Thank you!"

"Can I come too," Victoria piped in softly.

"Of course you can," Antonio exclaimed much louder than the quiet of the hour was ready for. "If you're there, I'll make sure to give you something from my travels as a way to make it up to you for waking you up, okay?"

In that moment, Victoria's eyes didn't have to struggle to stay open wide at all. "Really?"

"Of course! It's the least I can do to show you how sorry I am."

"What do we say," Lili prompted gently.

"Thank you, Captain Car-y-doe!"

Antonio's smile and laughter had the same lighthearted tone it had had since the very beginning of the conversation. "It's nothing, really. Wait until I give you the gift before you thank me just in case you don't like it." Antonio took a step back, took off his hat, and gave one last flourished bow to Lili. "Until we meet again, _mi reina y princesa atesorada_."

-...-

Despite being up all night, it only took a couple of hours for Victoria to gather enough energy for the rest of her day. Luckily for her, Lili hadn't really been in the mood for sleeping, either, so the two of them got to play until it was time to get for the lunch. Victoria had not brought a lot of clothes with her from Clubs, and, much to Lili's confusion, most of the clothes she did bring were suited for the cold weather of a Clubs' late-winter rather than a Diamonds' cool mid-spring.

"Victoria, who helped you pack your clothes," Lili asked as she pulled out a thick, green coat from Victoria's luggage.

Victoria sat in a pile of other green clothing items that would have been great to have if she were walking out into a blizzard rather than a partly-cloudy day. She had been her usual, upbeat self until Michelle delivered the suitcase to the room. As she sat in the clothes she seemed lost, and Lili grew more worried in the quiet before Victoria's response.

"Mama did. Everyone packed a bag like this at the castle. Mama said…" Victoria picked up a hand-knitted scarf and held it limply. "She said we had to pack the bag in case anything bad happened, and Babushka must have grabbed it before we left last night." When her eyes found Lili again, Lili's heart broke at the emotions pulling at the girl's face. "This...This isn't one of my normal visits, is it Nana?"

Shards of Lili's heart jumped into her throat and made getting her words out nearly impossible. Despite her distress, Lili had to find some relief in the fact that Natalya wasn't the one getting approached with this question. If Lili was struggling finding and speaking the right words, then Natalya would have almost certainly faltered and failed entirely. The question and the reality it uncovered were difficult, and for once Lili had to admit that she would have liked more time to prepare her answer, but Lili could handle this.

"Nana?"

Smiling gently, Lili took the scarf out of Victoria's hands and wound it around the girl's neck. "It's true that you're stay is going to be a bit longer than normal. Tensions in Clubs are very high at the moment, so you get to spend some time with all of us at Diamonds until things calm down."

Victoria put her hands over Lili's. "How long will that take?"

Lili squeezed her granddaughter's hands as her smile faltered. "We...We don't know."

Victoria stood up, her eyes wide with fear. "Will everyone be okay? Will Babushka and Mama and Baba Uncle Ivan and the Queen and the Jack and-!"

Lili pulled Victoria into her chest and held her tightly. "Yes, yes, they will all be safe. They are all making sure to watch out for one another. Think about how strong Babushka and the Queen are. Do you think anyone could defeat them if they fought together?"

A beat passed before Victoria shook her head. "No way!"

"There you go." Lili chuckled softly, pulled back, and kissed the top of Victoria's head. "Everything is going to be okay, but until it is you get to have all sorts of fun with me and Uncle Vash and Mathieu and Michelle-"

"And Antonio and the King!" Victoria bounced herself right out of Lili's arms. "And, and, and Babushka, too, right? She's staying for a little bit, right? Clubs and Diamonds are very very different, but I think Babushka would have fun here if she stayed with us for a little bit."

Lili held in a sigh as she began to pack up Victoria's winter gear. "Babushka will stay as long as she can." Lili paused in her packing when she came across a pair of green wool gloves. She held the gloves up to the light and smiled. "But, you know, you aren't far off about Babushka having fun here. In fact, the first time Babushka and I ever met was in this very castle."

Victoria's eyes lit up immediately. "You did? When? Where? How?"

Lili packed away the gloves as she laughed playfully at Victoria's immediate curiosity. "I'm not sure I should tell you."

Victoria wilted. "Ehhhh? Why?"

"Well, last time I told you a story, Mathieu laughed at me for telling you 'fairy tales'."

Victoria looked down at her feet. "I...I just got really excited when I found the maple tree, and, and I really wanted Mathieu to remember what you had told me because I thought it was true!"

"The story I told you _was_ true, Victoria."

"But he didn't remember any of it! At all!"

"I told you he wouldn't," Lili reminded her as she undid the scarf around Victoria's neck.

"And he also pointed out that if he were Queen, then you wouldn't be, a-and that doesn't make sense because then what would you be?"

Lili zipped up the suitcase and got back to her feet. "I'll tell you once we find you something nice to wear to lunch."

"Really?"

Lili hummed in agreement. "I promise."

The two of them ended up finding a lovely peach dress that was just a little too big for Victoria. Lili decided that she could do the small adjustments necessary before lunch started, and so she had Victoria standing on a small stool while wearing the dress so that the fabric could be pinned into place. Victoria's body was very still, but the way her mouth was fidgeting told Lili that it wouldn't be long before Victoria asked more questions.

"So, were you the Ace, Nana?"

Chuckling, Lili shook her head. "No, nothing fancy like that, I'm afraid. When Mathieu and I first met, I was just a sickly girl living in a cottage on the outskirts of the capital."

"Did you meet him before he became Queen?"

"No, we met under... odd conditions. You see, after Francois and Mathieu became King and Queen -much to the disatisfaction of cruel Adrienne," Victoria giggled, "Mathieu found that he was having a hard time connecting with his Jack. A Jack is meant to be a Queen's most trusted confident, but Uncle Vash was extra prickly back in those days."

"Uncle Vash was the Jack back then, too?"

Lili nodded. "He was, and Mathieu worried that he and Francois were so close that Vash felt like an outsider in the court. Mathieu wanted to understand Vash, and he noticed pretty quickly that Vash left the castle every day once his duties were finished. As Jack of Diamonds, Vash had a lot of duties, so he usually didn't leave until late at night, but he was always back before dawn. Mathieu wanted to know where Vash went, and he was certain that if he asked Vash wouldn't answer him, so one night he decided to sneak out and follow Vash."

Victoria gasped. "But wasn't he scared of getting caught? If Uncle Vash saw him, there's no way he'd trust him!"

"That's true, but I'm glad Mathieu decided to be daring that night because that was when he learned that Vash was checking up on me. When Vash and I were younger, a terrible strain of the flu took our parents away. I got the flu as well, but I lived. Unfortunately, I got sick again right after, and this second sickness ate at my lungs. It was hard for me to do hard work for long periods of time, and I continued to get sick very easily, so Vash always worried."

"Why didn't he just take you to the castle once he became Jack?"

"At first there was no guarantee that he'd become _the_ Jack, and then, when he was the only one left, he told me he didn't want me getting into the tangled politics of court life. His position got him access to better medicine, so by the time Mathieu discovered my existence I was hardly sick at all. Still, at that time I felt so indebted to my brother after everything he had sacrificed for me that I'd mentally scold myself any time I thought of leaving our little home to start my own life, so in that cottage I stayed trying to keep myself busy with activities that wouldn't worry Vash."

"That sounds pretty boring."

"It was, but I didn't know what to do. Then, a week after Mathieu had first followed Vash, he came to the cottage on his own to talk to me. Having the Queen of the kingdom come to my house in secret just to talk to me made me feel like I had entered a fairy tale. Mathieu stopped by as often as he could without rousing any suspicion from Vash, and we would talk for hours about brothers and farming and dreams and fears. I never told Mathieu this, but I definitely had a small crush on him during those days."

Victoria whipped her head around to face Lili, and she found Lili's whole face to be dusted in an embarrassed blush. Victoria burst out into giggles. "Nana! No!"

"I know, but it's true; he felt like a fairy tale prince, and I couldn't help myself. If I had had any close friends before him, I think I would have seen right away that what I really felt was the love that blossoms between two dear friends, but I was young and didn't know the difference between the feelings."

Victoria's face scrunched in confusion. " 'The difference between the feelings'…?"

Lili smiled tenderly. "There are many types of love in this world, Victoria. There's the love you give and receive from Mama and Baba Babushka and me. You don't have to do anything to get that love, and I don't see you doing anything that could cause you to lose that love. Most other loves require more time and work. You will meet so many people who will matter to you, and you will start by loving all of these people one way. Over time you will love them more or less, and at the end two very important loves will emerge within you: the devotion you feel to your dearest friends and the romantic attraction you will feel to your special ones. The only difference between the devotion and the romance is that the romance is an evolution of the devotion. Some people never find that evolution, and there's no shame in that. Devotion and romance are equally important and powerful forces." Lili stopped and saw that Victoria's face had only scrunched up more as she tried to understand everything Lili had said. "Ah, don't worry about understanding it all right now. It wasn't until Mathieu first took me to the castle that I began to understand that there was a difference at all."

Victoria's face snapped into an open look of curiosity just like a rubber band being released. "Mathieu brought you to the castle? How?"

"Well, Mathieu asked me to be his date to a dance."

"What?! How could he do that?! He, he had the King! And you were his friend! How could he hurt both of you like that?!"

Lili laughed. "No, no, don't worry! Mathieu wasn't cheating on Francois or leading me on. That year, the Diamonds Kingdom was in charge of hosting the Bleeding Hearts Ball -an old memorial ball that was forgotten after the Blind Shuffle. All four courts were meant to be present at one castle to prove that the Four Kingdoms of Fabulacor were supportive of one another. They had been holding the ball for over two-hundred years at that point, and some of the royals were getting bored, so they decided to make things fun. The other courts made a bet that Francois and Mathieu wouldn't be able to find each other at a masquerade if others did their costumes. No amount of costuming would be very useful if the two of them came in together or with other court members, so Mathieu asked me to get dressed up and accompany him. It would have been the first time I had left my home for an extended period, and even though there was a chance Vash could identify me no matter how good my disguise was, I couldn't get myself to say no."

"So you really went with Mathieu to a masquerade ball?"

Lili hummed affirmatively through a couple pins she was holding between her lips.

Victoria's smile took up half her face. "Did you help him find Francois?"

"I certainly tried, but…"

 _-Year 1,042 (8 B.B.S/Before Blind Shuffle)-_

Lili stood speechless before the sea of people and colors that filled the massive ballroom. The capital's main market could get crowded on the days new, rare shipments came into the city, but even those busiest days couldn't compare to the joyous mob. It might have been that the room -certainly the size of at least ten of Lili's cottages- made the amount of people feel larger because they filled the space so easily.

"Miss Rosefinch?"

Lili nearly had a heart attack when the silvery muzzle of an antlered animal entered her line of vision. She whipped her head to the right and remembered that the towering creature next to her was in fact Mathieu, and the comfort of having him near as they stood on the edge of the massive crowd calmed her racing heart and mind.

"Ma-" Lili quickly stopped herself from accidentally speaking the Queen's name and potentially ruining the whole game Mathieu was participating in. Both Mathieu and Lili had code names to protect their identities, though Lili's codename had nothing to do with the game and everything to do with making sure Vash didn't discover that she was at the ball that night. "Mr. Caribou, there are so many people, I…" Lili sighed. "I'll never be able to help you find _him_. I've never even met _him_ face-to-face; how will I identify him from behind a mask?"

Mathieu laughed, causing his antlers and hood to shake. When Lili had first seen his costume, she thought for sure that the costume was too obvious, but when she looked out into the sea of people, she saw creatures that managed to dwarf the dark blue-green caribou beside her. With the range of costumes before her, Lili felt that even the reds and browns of her common finch costume could have been hiding the Queen.

"I never really expected you to help me with that," Mathieu assured her. "I just want you to have fun tonight."

Lili turned her head away to hide a blush no one could even see behind the red feathers of her mask. She had only ever seen Mathieu speak and act genuinely, and this always added to his charm for her.

"Are you sure? I can ask around, or..."

Mathieu held up his gloved hands and shook them. "Please, don't worry about it. Besides, it might be cheating if I get help. I'm not quite sure." He shook the thought away. "Anyway, don't think about me right now, think about _you_. I know after all the stories we've swapped I'm probably the last person you'd expect to tell you to have fun at a dance, but-"

"Now the circumstances are much different." Lili smiled up at Mathieu. "Don't worry, I understand."

Mathieu's shawl sagged as he let out a tension-releasing breath. "Thank you. We'll meet up again in a couple of hours, then?"

Lili nodded, but then stopped herself as Mathieu was already beginning to leave. "Wait, how will we find each other again?"

"We will! Don't worry!"

Lili didn't feel that was an adequate answer to her question, and so she began to worry. However, as she stood there fretting, she remembered that that was the exact opposite of what Mathieu wanted her to do. Putting an immediate end to her circular concerns, she took a deep breath and prepared herself to enjoy the ball.

She wasn't comfortable following after Mathieu and stepping onto the dance floor right away. Mathieu had been teaching her all the moves she could possibly need to know (being the tallest Queen candidate, Mathieu had been taught both parts to all dances one could be expected to perform at a ball so that the other Queens could practice with him), but she was in no way confident in her abilities. Besides, there was something entrancing about watching the crowd move in synchronized time to the music that mixed in with the other sounds of the ball. In the center of what felt like a chaotic ebb and flow of people there was order, and that calmed Lili. She did her best to find quieter places off to the sides of the dance floor so that she could enjoy the fluttering costumes and amused people in peace.

She stayed off to the sides for quite some time. Other things preoccupied her while she watched the dancing, particularly a mostly-untouched buffet table that had so many delicious royal delicacies she was worried she wouldn't be able to dance because of how many she ate. On her second orange marmalade tart, a movement from the corner or her eyes caught her attention. Hovering in the sidelines with her was a young boy who was far too young to be at such a boisterous ball _with_ someone, yet (even worse) he was alone. His costume was very boxy and clearly homemade, but she couldn't make out what exactly all the grey and blue shapes were supposed to be. Curious and concerned, she approached him carefully. He was ducked behind a marble pillar when Lili came up to him from his side.

"Hello?"

The boy jumped and sharply turned his head around. "I'm supposed to be here," he quickly shouted, his voice muffled by the wooden helmet that covered most of his face.

Lili chuckled. The boy couldn't have been more than five, yet he was trying to convince her that he was supposed to be dancing and having fun like everyone else. "I didn't say you weren't. I just wanted to know what your costume is. It's very well-made."

The boy hesitantly peeled himself off the pillar and waited for some sort of response. When nothing happened, he stood taller, prouder.

"I'm a ship sailing for the Spades Royal Navy just like this one!" He held out his hand and in his palm he revealed a small, intricately carved wooden ship.

Lili couldn't say she had ever seen a ship that looked so much like a wooden crate (especially when compared to the beautifully rendered model in his hand), and she thought it was all very cute. "Oh, but where's your flag?"

The boy pointed to his blue front. "You aren't supposed to have visible suits here, so I just made myself blue!"

Lili's smile held back more amused laughter. She wasn't trying to be mean, and she was sure if she laughed too much, the boy would think she was teasing him.

"Shall I call you Mr. SS Blue, then?"

"SS?" The boy tilted his head to the side.

"As in 'Spades Ship'."

"Oh." The boy paused. "Why not just call me Peter?"

"Is that your real name?"

Peter nodded.

"You don't go by your real name at a masquerade ball. If you did, then there wouldn't be any point in dressing up."

Peter took another moment to think this line of reasoning over. "Then you can just call me Mr. Blue."

Lili playfully curtsied. "It's a pleasure. You can call me Miss Rosefinch. Now," she righted herself and extended a hand to Peter, "would you care to dance with me?"

Peter went rigid. "D-Dance?"

She nodded. "I'm too nervous to go out there and dance on my own, and I would be honored if you'd join me."

Peter began to nervously tug at one of his wooden sides. "I'm...not really good...at dancin'..."

"Well, then we are a perfect pair."

Peter looked back up at her through the rectangular slits he had cut out in his head gear. Lili smiled gently. After another beat, he shoved his model ship into his pocket and grabbed her hand.

The two walked to the edge of the dancing crowd so that they could hear the music without necessarily having to match everyone else's movements. Lili wasn't very tall, but she wasn't short enough to make dancing with a five-year-old easy. They tried a few positions, but in the end Lili decided to lift Peter up and place his feet on top of her own.

"Does that feel alright," she asked.

Lili could see Peter staring down excitedly at their feet through his too-large eye slits and understood his answer without him speaking a word.

They danced, doing their best to stay on the beat and often failing. It didn't help that they kept laughing so loudly they drowned out the music for themselves. They continued on this way for a few songs until…

"Peter?"

The deep, rumbling voice instantly froze Peter. Lili wasn't expecting him to stop moving so suddenly, and the two would have tumbled if she hadn't fought to regain their collective balance. Her gaze traveled backwards and then up to find the face of the lion man that had come up behind them.

Slowly, the lion crossed his arms over his chest. With his head hung low, Peter put his feet back on the ground.

" 'Ello, Grandpa."

The man said nothing. Peter fidgeted.

"I know I wasn't supposed to come, but...but I really, really wanted to, s-so I made my own outfit, and…" Peter trailed off guiltily.

Still, the man didn't answer.

"He wasn't bothering me," Lili piped in. "I was the one who asked him to dance with me."

"Th-That's true! I wasn't botherin' nobody!"

The man knelt down and gestured for Peter to come to him. Peter looked up at Lili helplessly before going to the man. Peter's head had fallen forward again by the time the man put his hands on Peter's shoulders.

"You weren't botherin' anybody," the lion man started, "but you're worryin' people. Does anyone know that you're here?"

Peter shook his head.

"When everyone at the castle figures out that you're gone, they're gonna be very worried. What would we have done if you'd've disappeared forever?"

The sound of a sniffle came from Peter. "I-I'm sorry, Grandpa. I just...I just wanted to..." Peter fell into his grandfather's chest, and his grandfather held him in a tight embrace. "I wanted to be with everyone else!"

As Peter cried, the man stood up with him still in his arms.

"Thank you," the man said to Lili.

Lili shook her head. "No, no! I didn't do anything except maybe get Peter in trouble." She really felt like she had done nothing. What had she been thinking when she asked a little boy to dance instead of asking him where his family was?

"Peter got himself in trouble. You helped keep 'im from gettin' lost. Thank you."

Lili still didn't feel like she deserved any thanks, but the man didn't wait to hear any more protests. He turned and walked away with Peter huddled into his shoulder. Before they got sucked into the mob of people, Peter raised his head and waved.

"Goodbye, Miss Rosefinch. Thank you for dancing with me."

Lili waved goodbye, a sweet smile on her lips. She really hoped Peter didn't get into too much trouble.

She didn't have much time to worry about Peter before she was literally dragged back onto the dance floor by another cat man.

"Sorry," he mumbled in an unconvincing manner. His hold on Lili was very uncommitted, and she could have slipped away from him easily, but she wanted to see if she'd get an explanation for this rudeness.

"I just need one dance," he continued. "My Queen said I only have to do one, and then I can go."

Somehow, the man managed to only make himself seem ruder with his explanation. Unfortunately, Lili couldn't bring herself to force this man onto anyone else, so she decided she could put up with him for one dance.

"Balls aren't really your thing?"

"No," he replied bluntly. "A good party with lots of alcohol can be fun, but all this dancing just makes me tired. I'm tempted to lie down on the ground and take a nap after this."

The man wasn't exaggerating about being tired. After only a few steps, it felt like Lili was trying to dance with someone who was falling asleep in her arms. His dance moves were slow and effortless in the worst way possible. Clearly this man didn't care enough to put the effort into making even this one dance enjoyable.

"Surely you can find something to do here that's fun for you," Lili attempted to prompt optimistically.

From behind his white mask Lili could see his eyes lazily blink. "Hmmmm… it can be fun watching the people."

"Oh! I agree! It's amazing how everyone," except the two of them, "can dance in sync!"

"They make me ask a lot of questions like: is this ball really appropriate? Should we be commemorating a massacre with a dance? No one is solemn. It doesn't really seem like anyone is thinking about why we hold this ball at all. Is it more disrespectful to forget history or let it get perverted like this?"

This one dance was going to take an eternity.

"R...Right…"

"Of course, there are more immediately relevant questions, too. For instance, I've been wondering when the woman in the blackbird dress will stop watching you and finally ask you to dance."

That little comment snapped Lili to attention. "What?"

The man gestured with his head in a vague direction. "Over there. She's been watching you for a while now."

Lili twisted her head around to find this mysterious woman. She eventually found a woman wearing a black-feathered dress that shimmered green under the right light. Lili figured this woman was the one she was looking for because this woman immediately looked away from her once their eyes happened to meet.

"Do you know who she is," Lili asked.

The man hummed. "I think so, yes."

"Is she dangerous?"

His head fell to the side. "...Yes, but not to you, I don't think."

Lili wasn't sure if his answer comforted her or not.

"If you want, I can help you get away from her. We can find a quiet place to nap. We wouldn't have to nap together, though. There's plenty of floor space for everyone."

Lili marveled at this man's ability to fixate on something like napping on the floor (which couldn't have been comfortable) when only a minute before he had been asking about the moral relevance of the ball they were attending.

"Who...who are you…?"

"I'm Heracles, but you can call me…" His head tilted to the other side as he hummed in thought. "Heracat."

It was like Lili was seriously dancing with a cat caught in a philosopher's body. It was absolutely ridiculous.

"Well… Heracat… I think I'll be alright. If she just wants to dance, there's no harm in that."

"Are you sure?"

Lili nodded.

Heracles shrugged. "Suit yourself."

As the music swelled to the song's climax, Heracles' movements suddenly became very deliberate. He brought Lili close to his chest, murmured, "Thank you for the dance," and then twirled her away from him. He let go of her hand mid-twirl, and this launched her right into the woman who had been watching her.

"I-I'm sorry!" Lili was mortified. Had that cat man just been toying with her the whole time so that he could throw her (literally) into this awkward situation?

Trying to push past her mortification, Lili looked up at the woman in front of her. Creeping down past the woman's black-beaked mask was... a blush.

"It is fine." The woman's words came out harsher than she intended, and this caused her cheeks to get even redder. "I-I mean, it was not your fault! Do not be concerned!" Her words were only getting harsher the more embarrassed she got. Lili's heart squeezed in response to how cute and sad the compounding problem was.

"What's your name?"

The woman stood straighter and spoke without hesitance. "Natalya of Clubs."

Lili smiled warmly at Natalya. "You can call me Miss Rosefinch." She expected Natalya to get embarrassed again and find a new shade of red to turn, but, instead, she frowned. The frown suddenly made her feel very self-conscious. "Is...is something wrong?"

Natalya inhaled sharply, apparently shocked that her frown had been seen. "No! It…Clubs was in charge of making your costume. I suggested you be a phoenix. I… guess they did not like my suggestion."

Lili looked down at the autumn-colored feathers on her dress. "I wouldn't say that. The colors of this costume aren't that far off from a traditional phoenix. It looks to me that they just took your idea and built on it."

She looked back up at Natalya and saw the rejuvenation of embarrassment she had expected to see earlier. How could Heracles have even suggested that this woman could be dangerous in any way?

"You know, it seems that I've lost my dance partner," Lili said, briefly pretending to look for the man she already knew was long gone. After the charade, she smiled shyly at Natalya. "Would I be troubling you if I asked you to dance?"

Natalya got so tense, Lili was afraid her muscle fibers would begin to snap.

"Yes -no, I mean, no, you would not trouble me at all."

Natalya stiffly held out her hand, and Lili gently pillowed her own hand inside of it. They walked hand-in-hand into the synchronized, swirling mass of people. Natalya, to Lili's relief, took the leading position in their dance. Natalya's movements were halting and forceful, yet they were also considerably less annoying than Heracles' movements had been. If Lili could just get Natalya to relax a little, she was sure they'd be a great pair on the dancefloor.

"So, did you get to choose _your_ costume," Lili asked as she twirled.

Natalya jolted before shaking her head. "No, my brother decided on this."

"Your brother?"

"King Ivan of Clubs."

"Oh, my!"

While Lili was trying to figure out how she had managed to get the attention of the sister of a King, Natalya's grip on her tightened.

"He is not as the rumors paint him! He wishes harm on no one! He is a good man!"

Natalya's outburst surprised Lili. "R-Rumors?"

"You…"Natalya's grip loosened. "You do not hear all of the horrible things people say about my brother?"

Lili shook her head. "I don't leave my house very often. This is my first time ever going out." A light-hearted laugh collapsed into a blush when Lili realized it had been the vagueness of her response that set Natalya off. "Oh! Oh, my response earlier was not targeted towards your brother at all! I don't know much about him, but if you say he's a good man, then I believe you."

Finally, some of Natalya's tension eased. "Thank you."

"Of course! My brother is a member of the Diamonds court and...well, I'm sure not everyone is fond of him. He can be stubborn and prickly, and I'm sure if I heard any rumors about him, they would hurt. Honestly, my brother is very sweet and he worries about me all of the time. He's just..." Lili struggled to find the right words to describe Vash. "He doesn't let people in easily, that's all."

"My brother is the opposite," Natalya replied. "He wants to be friends with everyone, and this had led him to letting people in who hurt him. I have to be by his side to protect him from those people."

Lili's smile slowly, slowly lost its genuine cheerfulness. "So he lets you stay by his side, then?" She felt a tug on her heart. "You two must be close for him to trust you like that."

Natalya took her time in looking Lili up and down before forming her response. "He has no choice. I am the Ace of Clubs, so whether he wants me by his side or not, I will be there."

Lili stumbled over her own feet in shock. She didn't fall thanks to Natalya's strong grip on her.

"You...you're an Ace?!"

"Is this really so surprising to the friend of a Queen?"

"No...eh, well, yes, it is."

"Why?"

Pink dusted Lili's cheeks as she focused her eyes on the hand she had pressed against Natalya's. "Someone told me you've been watching me here at the dance. I don't know what I've done to get your attention. You're not only the sister to the King of Clubs, but you're also an Ace! I'm just..."

"You are the friend of the Queen of Diamonds, the sister of the Jack, and," Natalya must have seen where Lili was looking because she pushed her fingers through Lili's fingers, linking their hands together perfectly, "a beautiful caged bird longing for freedom. If you truly want to be by your brother's side, then you must fight. If you do not, then nothing will change, and you will be caged forever."

Lili shifted her eyes up and simply stared at Natalya. This stiff woman, this strong warrior was so...strange, but not in the irritating way Heracles had been. No, this sort of strange was very endearing to Lili, and from within her chest she felt an odd thump that she had not felt before as she continued to stare into Natalya's cobalt eyes.

A lone trumpet's cry stopped all other motion and thought in the ballroom. Lili, taken totally off-guard, looked around wildly, trying to figure out what was going on. Natalya noticed this and nudged her attention towards a demonically-dressed man standing on the main marble staircase.

"I'm glad to have grabbed your attention!" The man stood before the sea of people and cackled like all of their gazes empowered him. His voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, and Lili felt that she couldn't attribute this effect to the acoustics of the room alone. "And I see all of you look to be having fun, but you must stop because now it is time for the climax of the evening!"

Excited whispers began to buzz throughout the room. The man gave everyone a moment before shushing them with a flick of his wrist.

"Yes, yes, as you have all guessed, it is now time to see if our awesome King and Queen of Diamonds have found each other in this mess! Now, where is our Queen?"

The demon made a show of looking out over his audience before snapping his fingers. The entire room went dark except for the glow of his red eyes and one bright beam of light that shone down only a few feet away from Lili and Natalya. Lili could see the tips of Mathieu's antler's sparkle under the light, but she struggled to see much more. As the crowd began to move to make a circle around Mathieu, Natalya pulled Lili in closer to the action as well, though this was unnecessary; by some sort of magic, the image of Mathieu and his partner was being displayed behind the demon-man for the whole room to see.

From where Lili and Natalya stood, they could see Mathieu easily, but his dance partner's back was to them. All Lili could really tell about the other person was that they were dressed up as some sort of garden fairy or forest deity. Either way, they were covered in all types of plants and flowers.

Mathieu lifted off his mask, and Lili could feel the whole crowd suck in a breath, waiting to see if the Diamonds' royalty had succeeded in their seemingly impossible task.

Lili, however, was left breathless by the look on Mathieu's face. She had seen similar expressions on his face when he talked about the King, but his current expression took all of those previous emotions she had seen and consolidated them into a single feeling. The look was tender, strong, embarrassed, confident, and joyous. Before the crowd erupted at the removal of the dance partner's mask, Lili knew the King would be there, because who else could bring that expression of love to Mathieu face but him?

Lili laughed. Then she cried.

"Wh-What is wrong?!" Natalya was understandably alarmed.

Lili simultaneously tried to stop her tears without taking off the mask and comfort Natalya. "Nothing, nothing! I just feel so...so...so _silly_ right now."

"Silly? Why?"

Lili shook her head. "I feel like a child who thought you could grab the moon if you were standing in the right spot, but, really, the distance is so much greater than I could have imagined."

Whether in that moment Natalya understood what had been said to her or not, Lili would never know because it was then that a man dressed in as much gold as the sun itself presented a handkerchief to her.

" _Senorita! Por favor!_ Do not cry! I have not even asked you to dance yet!"

Natalya bristled. "Antonio? Why are you here?"

Antonio was entirely unphased by her attitude. "Ah! I was the King's guest! They are about to start the King and Queen's dance, so I thought 'Hey! I should dance with the Queen's guest!' What do you say?"

Lili looked at the handkerchief. It would have been rude to turn this man down after she had just used the cloth to dry her face.

She smiled up at Natalya. "Can we meet again sometime?"

Natalya's guards fell and her usual awkwardness returned. "If...if that is what you would like, yes."

"I would like that very much, thank you."

She was ready to start her dance with Antonio (the music had already started), but before she could go, Natalya plucked one of the black feathers from her dress and handed it to Lili.

"Then that feather holds my promise to see you again."

Blushing, Lili placed the feather inside the collar of her dress as Natalya left.

Antonio let out a low whistle. "There's no way I can compete with that!"

Lili rolled her eyes and took Antonio's hand. "Let's just dance. We're already way behind!"

The King and Queen's dance melted into another song that required the switching of partners. Antonio handed her right off to Mathieu first.

"I told you not to worry about finding me," Mathieu teased.

"I guess you were also right about not needing my help to find the King," Lili joked back.

Mathieu laughed while leading her through the dance without any problems. "Did you have fun?"

Lili didn't even hesitate. "I did."

Mathieu sighed and smiled. "Good. I'm glad."

Lili smiled back and she was relieved when her heart didn't ache. "Did you happen to see my brother?"

"I think I did. He wasn't really dancing, so if you stay out here on the dance floor you should be safe."

"It's a good thing I didn't run into him before I started dancing, then. What does his costume look like?"

"I think he told me he was going as 'the man in the moon'. He's pretty much wearing a regular silver suit with a…"

Lili saw Mathieu's face go white when he spun her away to her next partner. Sure enough, she fell face-first into a silver suit.

"Lili?"

"You ran right into Uncle Vash?!"

Lili nodded dramatically as she finished the last bit of quick-stitching of Victoria's dress. "I did."

"Was he mad?!"

"At first he was very, very confused. Then he was concerned. _Then_ he was mad."

"What did you do? What did you do?!"

Lili stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. "Well, I really, really wanted to run away, but I couldn't get Babushka's words out of my head about nothing changing, so we talked. We talked for a long time -weeks, actually. And then we worked it out so that I could live in the castle with him and everyone else."

Victoria hopped off the stool she had been standing on. "Did you like living at the castle?"

"I'd say that I loved it so much, I never left. Now, about your hair… Something quick will do, don't you think?"

Victoria nodded. "Yeah!"

"Then hold on juuuust a moment."

Lili untied the red ribbon in her hair and then used it to tie back some of Victoria's peskier bangs.

"There. How does that feel?"

The stars in Victoria's eyes told Lili everything. Still, the girl responded by shouting, "Th-Thank you, Nana!"

"You're welcome. Are you ready to go get some food?"

"Yes!"

Lili chuckled and took Victoria's hand. "Then let's go."

They headed for the gardens with Victoria dancing around to songs she made up and hummed on the way. Sometimes she declared herself the Queen, other times the Ace, and once or twice she even tried being the Jack. She was so distracted by the world she was elaborating on after hearing Lili's story that she didn't notice that the two of them were taking a roundabout way of getting to the gardens. She did notice, however, that Lili looked very relieved when they passed by her bedroom and heard Babushka's snores coming from the other side of the door.

* * *

Notes:

 _Schäri_ : Swiss-German variant of chérie

 _Solnishko_ : Russian pet name meaning sun or sunshine

 _Mi Reina_ : My Queen

 _Sí, lo siento_ : Yes, I'm sorry.

 _Qué bueno_ : Great!

 _mi reina y princesa atesorada_ : My treasured Queen and Princess

 _Senorita! Por favor!_ : Miss! Please!

 _Baba_ : I saw it as a genderneutral name some genderqueer parents were using, but (whether they knew it or not) this appears to also be the Turkish word for father, so take that however you want. I was never able to decide who I wanted Victoria's other parent to be, so I tried to keep it open to interpretation.

I know this story has A LOT to keep track of (I even made character charts for one of my beta readers so that she could keep track of everyone in the two timelines), and this chapter in particular is packed with little hints, so some things to pay attention to...

*That red-eyed announcer at the dance (you probably know who he is, but pay attention to him anyway)

*The people Lili danced with this chapter

*The costumes people wore at the dance

Tune in next month for _Chapter 4: The End of Act 1_!


	4. End of Act I

Ho boy, things are really going to start picking up now. As always, glad to see you back for another chapter!

New character unlocked!

Tino/Grandwa: Finland

* * *

 _-Year 708 A.B.S.-_

Peter sat on the roof of Diamonds' Castle with his knees pressed against his chest. He watched silently (and Peter was not known for being silent) as the sun's last lingering beams of light were swallowed up by the darkness of the night. In the wake of the sun's slumber, the streets of the capital lit up in a green glow. Gradually, green lights ignited in homes and shops and restaurants all the way out to the horizon, bathing the whole world in green. He felt like he was drowning.

He slapped his cheeks. "Snap out of it, you idiot," he scolded himself. "Some Joker you are! There are people who need you, and you're just sittin' on a roof!"

He stood up, adjusted his black coat, and ran. When he got to the edge of the roof, he jumped. The green world rushed past him as he fell faster and faster. As he hurtled towards the ground, the grass began to fade away into carpet. The carpet spread out to wood-paneled walls that then shot up around him, devouring the green light. He slowed his descent then, and by the time Lili's bedroom surrounded him completely, he was able to land on the carpet with little more than a soft thud.

The Queen was sitting in her rocking chair, the phantoms of tears still on her cheeks. She didn't look all that surprised to see him.

"Hello, P-Peter. What can I do for you?" Lili was doing her best to smile, and Peter hated it. He always hated when people tried to look like they were feeling something they weren't, and Lili was a common culprit of the crime.

"I wanted to check in on you and Victoria to make sure you're okay." He looked around the room. The curtains were drawn, yet the green from outside still managed to seep in. This illuminated the Queen in a soft glow, but the rest of the room was too dark to make out much of anything. "Is Victoria here? I thought you two'd be together."

There was a quick inhale from Lili before she dropped her head. "No, I…" Her breath was released hesitantly. "She's not really in the mood to see anyone at the moment, and I… I'm a terrible grandmother. I've gone to her room a dozen times, but every time I get to the door, I can't bring myself to go in. When she needs me most, I can't…" She took a shaky breath back in. "I can't tell her everything's going to be alright. I can't tell her to smile and not worry. I… I can't…"

"Hey, hey, Lili! It's okay!" Peter hoped Lili didn't cry. He hated fake emotions, but, worse, he never knew what to do when people cried. "You can take the night off. You've lost some family, too."

"But-!"

"I'll go check on her. You don't have to worry about it. I was gonna do it anyway. I'll take care of her tonight, and then you can take over again tomorrow, okay?" Peter waited for a response, but when he didn't get one fast enough, he repeated, " _Okay?_ "

Lili brought a hand to her cheek and nodded. "O...Okay. Thank you, Peter."

In a puff of smoke, Peter disappeared from Lili's room and then reappeared in Victoria's.

He found Victoria sitting on the edge of her bed, wrapped in a comforter and staring out a window that looked like stain glass due to all the green coming through it. Peter's approach was cautious, and when he saw Victoria's blank stare out the window he only felt more hesitant. Just as he was about to sit on the bed, he decided against it and hovered in the air next to Victoria instead.

They sat in silence, Victoria making no move to even acknowledge that she knew Peter was there. Peter tried to be respectful, but he could only take the silence for so long before he started to fidget.

"So," he started and then immediately stopped. His voice felt like a bomb going off in a meadow. He felt like an idiot. _He_ was going to take care of a little girl in place of her grandmother? If they were just running around and having fun, that'd be one thing, but the situation didn't call for that. What exactly was he supposed to do? What exactly was he supposed to say?

"Do you think Mama and Baba can see the lights?"

Peter's eyes went wide and his head shot towards Victoria. She hadn't moved, and her expression was still just a blank stare out the window, but he knew she had asked the question. Slowly, he turned his head to the glow with her.

"Yeah, I think so," Peter replied softly. "I bet they think they're really nice, too."

"I think they'd rather see them in person. With… " Her voice cracked. "With me."

Peter let out a long, low breath. How had people treated him after his parents died? That had been so long ago, and he had been so young. Still, in his mind there were a few clear smiles and outstretched hands that he felt he could base his tactics on.

"If they can see the lights, they can see you, too. There's no way they don't miss you just as much as you miss them right now. Believe me, I know all about parents."

"Oh?" Victoria sounded mildly incredulous.

"I-I mean, I know a lot about people who love you like they're your parents even if they're not, and after I've seen all that love, I think I've got the idea."

Finally, there was a crack in Victoria's expression. "What?"

She was confused. Peter would take confusion.

"My parents died when I was three. I hardly remember 'em at all, but I think they were a'right. My older brother was the only family I had left, but he was kind of too busy to be raisin' a kid like me."

"Too busy to take care of his brother?"

"He had a kingdom to run at the time, and he didn't want to be handin' me off to servants all the time. It makes sense that way."

"A...kingdom?" Victoria turned her head towards Peter. Her usual curious spark was faint, but it was there in her eyes.

"Yeah! My brother is-!" Peter clamped his mouth shut. Would he get in trouble for telling the truth?

"... _Is_?"

Peter leaned in close. "It's a secret! Can you promise not to tell anyone?"

Victoria nodded.

"Good." Peter sat back up. "My brother's Arthur!"

"You mean the Queen of... _Spades?_ "

Peter paled. Right, he should have been less worried about his secrets and more about the current state of affairs.

"Uh, yes, but -but we were brothers a _long_ time ago! Not even he knows that we are -or were- related!"

Victoria turned away again. "This sounds like one of Nana's stories. Things happened a long time ago and now no one remembers them."

"Nana still tells you stories like this?"

Victoria shrugged.

Peter frowned. He thought all of Lili's "story telling" had ended after Mathieu told Victoria the stories weren't true. He made a mental note to ask Gilbert about it later.

"Well, this is my story, not Nana's. Arthur was too busy to take care of a kingdom and me, but there weren't no way he was goin' to put me in an orphanage! So him and the King asked the King's parents to live in Spades Castle and take care of me! Grandpa and Grandwa took care of me just like I was another one of their sons!"

"Your...grandparents?" A silence fell that Peter didn't feel right interrupting. "What was it like growing up with them?"

"Oh! It was great! My grandpa was this huge, scary-looking guy who always looked like this!" Peter crossed his arms over his chest and scowled in an exaggerated manner. Victoria peeked at his act. "And he didn't really speak a lot, just said what he thought needed to be said. Everyone was scared of him, but he wasn't scary on the inside at all. Nah, the one everyone should have been scared of was Grandwa. Grandwa looked soft and sweet, but they could kick anyone's butt. Gilbert told me that when Grandwa and Grandpa first met, the whole course of history shifted!"

"Gilbert?"

Victoria looked confused. This made Peter confused.

"You've met Gilbert before, haven't ya?"

Victoria shook her head.

"He's a Joker like me, but older. Have you at least heard of him?"

Victoria turned her eyes to the ceiling. "...Maybe."

Peter thought this was really, really weird. Gilbert was in the Diamonds Kingdom all of the time because he was close friends with Francois. Gilbert also wasn't the kind of guy to let his presence go unnoticed; when he wanted your attention, he got it. Peter tried to make another note to ask his partner-in-crime what the deal was.

"Eh, Gilbert ain't important to the story, anyway. All you need to know is that Fortuna reshuffles souls all the time, so Grandwa and Grandpa didn't meet right away, but once they did, they never got dealt apart. Sometimes Grandwa took on different forms, but Grandpa always found them and always loved 'em. They were made for each other!"

"And both of them loved you, too?"

" 'Course they did! Grandpa alone had enough love for a whole kingdom of people! But he only really loved four people -Grandwa, me, and his other two sons. I…" Peter's mood shifted as old, forbidden memories rushed back to his mind. For a moment, he got lost in them. "I don't think anyone was more heartbroken than he was when I became the Ace of Spades."

"You were the Ace of Spades?" Victoria snorted.

Peter snapped out of his trance. "Oi, you believed that Mathieu was Queen of Diamonds, but me being Ace of Spades is too ridiculous?!"

"You're just a kid," Victoria shot back. "And the current Ace of Spades is really old! There's no way you were ever the Ace! You couldn't have been!"

"You sound just like they did." Peter dramatically spun away from Victoria, but his momentum was too great, so he was left spinning around in the air a few times.

" _They?_ "

"Grandpa, Arthur -all of 'em!" As his spinning slowed, the frustration fell from his face. "Guess they had a right to say all those things, though. Things back then were a lot like they are now, what with Spades and Clubs… but Aces were also in charge of the military back then, so that'd be another reason to be worried."

Victoria appeared to be sizing Peter up. "You were _really_ the Ace of Spades?"

"Yes! I was!"

She eyed him over once more before dropping the blanket she had wrapped around her to her shoulders. "Did you want to be the Ace?"

Peter stared at the overbearing green coming from outside and smiled sadly. "I always wanted to be the Ace."

"... _But?_ "

"But I wanted it so much I started wishin', and wishes always have prices. Always."

Victoria frowned. "What was the price?"

Peter laughed, but the sound was hollow. "I'm not sure, really. I think there might 'ave been a whole web of 'em, but if I had to pick a price I'd say… it was never seein' my family smile again."

 _-Year 1,050 (1 B.S./Blind Shuffle)-_

Peter stood frozen to his spot on the ground. He hoped that he looked strong and brave and not like he wanted to puke, because that's really what he wanted to do as he stood in front of everyone with his chest exposed. Everyone -the King, the Queen, the Jack, and his grandparents- was just _staring_ at him -or, well, they were staring at the intricate blue "A" now etched into the skin over his heart. He couldn't help as his fingers twisted the fabric of his his shirt into little buds out of view from the prodding gazes before him.

"What type of joke is this," the Jack, Yao, asked. Yao didn't really like Peter, and Peter didn't really like him, either.

"It's not a joke," Peter insisted.

"This is not funny, young man," Yao continued on.

"My god, you're right! It's a good thing I ain't jokin' then, eh?"

"Peter!" The Queen, Arthur, looked livid, but Peter knew him well enough to see that he was trying to bury other emotions with his anger. "Don't talk that way to Yao!"

"I'll talk that way 'till you all take me seriously! I didn't draw this on myself! It was just there when I woke up this mornin'!"

Peter stared back desperately at the five adults in front of him. Yao looked annoyed, but that was a pretty typical expression for him when Peter was around. Arthur's angry mask began to crack as it occurred to him his brother might not be lying to him. The King, Alfred, seemed confused. Grandwa had their hand to their mouth and their head kept making small jolts back and forth as if they were repeatedly trying to convince themselves that what was happening wasn't. Grandpa was impossible to read. Most people said Grandpa was always impossible to read, but Peter had gotten pretty good at understanding his wordless expressions. To suddenly be left in the dark made his stomach flip. The small wooden boat given to him by his Grandpa felt heavy in his pocket.

"You still don't believe me," Peter shouted once the silence had dragged out too long. "Go ahead, scrub at it! It won't come off no matter what you do! Believe me, I've tried!"

The adults before him jolted along with the mood. All Peter ever talked about was how he wanted to become the Ace of Spades one day, so perhaps all of them had expected him to fake the mark one day and show it off with pride. However, his growing anger forced those who hadn't been taking the situation seriously to start.

Grandwa stepped forward first. They dropped their hands from their face and brought them to Peter's shoulders as they knelt down.

"Oh, Peter, I'm sorry. We believe you. Are you okay? Getting this mark must have been such a shock for you, huh?"

It wasn't. Not really. But none of the adults here could know that.

"Yeah," Peter muttered, having a hard time looking directly into Grandwa's concerned eyes.

"Don't worry, honey," Grandwa assured. "No matter what happens with Clubs, we won't force you to take up the whole army. We could never ask that of a thirteen-year-old boy."

"A child warrior. We pray to Fortuna for help, and this is what she gives us. How will we ever even train him?" Yao sounded like he was mumbling more to himself than to the whole group, but everyone heard what he said, and the other adults weren't happy.

"Come on, Yao, Grandwa's right -we can't go throwin' a kid against the Icy Blade of Clubs. It would be," Alfred stopped mid-sentence, a grimace contorting his face. "Uh...ya know, not good." For a King, Peter always found Alfred to be curiously horrible at word choice. It did make him more approachable, though, so maybe that's why the Kingdom's people liked him so much.

"Excuse me for being concerned about what all of this will mean in the history books! I do not want to hand over the army to a child either, but…" There was really no good way to end that thought, so Yao stopped and changed the subject. "We are already challenging tradition by having you two take the Vows of Fortuna next month. Maybe this is Fortuna's way of saying that she is displeased with us."

"What?" Alfred shook his head. "No way. Why'd she be mad about that? It's supposed to be good luck if a royal couple takes 'em, not bad. Look at Matty!"

"For other Kingdoms that is true, but Spades is different! There's the old myth that-"

Alfred groaned. "Come on, Yao, enough with the myth!"

"Would you two stop your bickering," Arthur snapped. "Now is not the time! Peter is who we are concerned about right now!"

Alfred looked sheepish for a moment and awkwardly tried to laugh away the tension in the air. "I really ain't too worried. Peter's gonna be an awesome right-hand man to me! Besides, we all got our marks around this age, too."

"Yes, but Spades has never had an Ace before," Arthur retorted, "and the reason Aces in other Kingdoms control the military is because they typically get their marks much later in life."

"All of this is unprecedented," Yao agreed.

Alfred just shrugged. "Then ya can't really be worried about tradition and signs, can ya? Peter's makin' history! That should be celebrated!"

Alfred's efforts to look at things optimistically didn't seem to have much effect on the group. Peter was thankful for him, anyway.

"I'm not scared or nothin'," Peter piped in. It was a lie. "I want to be Ace! If I have to fight Clubs, then I will!"

Alfred immediately shook his hands. "Whoa, I didn't say nothin' 'bout that! Yao can continue handlin' the army just fine for now!"

"But-!"

"Peter!" Now Grandwa was talking again. "No buts on the subject!"

Peter opened his mouth to continue arguing, but decided against it. That was a battle he wasn't going to be able to win on his own.

When he dropped his head, Grandwa tilted it back up and gave him a gentle look. "You know, I am proud of you for being the first Ace of Spades, Peter." They looked back at the group. "We all are."

Peter followed Grandwa's gaze to the four men looking back at them. Now Yao looked anxious _and_ annoyed. Alfred had found a way to bring back his overly-confident grin as he winked supportively at Peter. Arthur was doing his best to match Alfred's support, but he looked like he was going to be sick at any moment. Grandpa was still impossible to read.

Peter wanted to cry.

Instead he took a deep breath and excitedly threw his hands into the air.

"I'm going to be the best Ace ever!"

"So Clubs and Spades were fighting even back then, too?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah. That's just how they are, I guess."

A respectful silence fell between them.

"Did they go to war back then?"

Peter hesitated to answer. "...It was declared. I fought as the leader of the Spades army."

"So you did fight?"

"I had to."

"Why?"

Peter smiled sadly at Victoria. "To protect my family."

"But your family didn't want you to fight," Victoria shot back, anger creeping into her voice. "They didn't want it at all! Why would you hurt them just to protect them?"

Peter recoiled. He realized he wasn't doing a very good job of comforting Victoria, and so he tried his best to change the mood. He pushed a huge smile across his face and replied, "Because I got to see them happy again in the future! That's what matters most to me!"

Suddenly, Victoria sprang to her feet. "I don't care about the future! I don't care about the past! I care about _now_! I live _now_! I experience _now_! My parents are dead, but I want them to be alive and holding me _now_!"

"Victoria, I-"

"I'm tired of stories!" She was sobbing now. "I don't want to be led on by fantasies! I don't want to be stuck in the past! I don't want the people I love to only be alive in stories that no one remembers! I don't -I want-! I want…! I _want_ …!" She grasped helplessly for her desires to take shape, but her heart gave out before she could find them. She collapsed back onto her bed, and all of her energy was put into the tears pouring down her face and into her comforter.

Peter was frozen. This wasn't how he had wanted things to go at all.

Hesitantly, he reached out to give Victoria a comforting touch. When his fingers brushed her shoulder, her head snapped up, and her eyes were the fiercest he had ever seen.

" _Get out,_ " she screeched. "Get out, get out, get out, get out! _GET OUT!_ "

Peter jumped away as anything within Victoria's reach was thrown at him. All of the noise was bound to grab someone's attention, and sure enough Michelle and Lili came running into the room.

"Peter!" In his haste to escape the chaos, Peter missed which of the two women shouted at him. He wasn't even sure if the shout was angry or confused or upset or concerned. All he knew was that the shouting, the projectiles, the green light -all of it vanished in an instant as his magic instinctively threw him thousands of miles across Fabulacor to the one place that always made him feel safe.

Unfortunately, he was thrown in such a rush that he didn't have time to slow himself down, so he smacked right into the wooden dining room table in the center of the cozy Spades cabin. Plates that had been on the table jolted off and crashed to the ground along with a few forks and knives.

"Dear Fortuna! _Peter!_ " Tino, despite approaching seventy-years-old, was immediately by Peter's side fretting about him. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Peter, completely disoriented, tried focusing on Tino to ground himself. "Huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah! Fine! I'm fine! I-!" He rubbed the back of his head and felt something wet. When he brought his hand forward, he found a dark liquid coating his palm. "...oh."

"Ah! Peter! You're not fine at all! Stay here!" Tino rushed away and then returned with a towel and bandages. "Can you stand?"

Peter pushed himself up a little to test his limits. "I think so."

Tino grabbed his arm and helped him back to his feet anyway. As soon as he was standing, Tino plopped him back down into a carved wooden chair.

"Just hold still, dear! I'll take care of this!" They started to dab the towel on the back of Peter's head. The towel was wet and warm and it only stung a little. "What's your name? What's my name? Can you see my fingers clearly," Tino asked as he dangled three fingers in front of Peter's eyes.

"Peter, Tino, and three. I'm fine, really! Besides the head wound, I mean."

The two of them fell into silence. Peter's world was a lot more silent that day than he was used to. Tino was too busy concentrating on treating Peter's wound, and Peter was still reeling from what had just happened in Victoria's room. He didn't really feel up to talking, but he still braced himself for the questions he knew would be coming once Tino had exited panic mode.

This took about two minutes.

"Peter, honey, what happened? You've come bouncing into here before, and you've certainly bumped into things, but never like this!"

"I, um," he began to pick at the hem of his shirt. "Some...things didn't really go how I thought they would."

"What things? Were you fighting with someone?"

Peter tried to shake his head, but Tino stopped him. "No -er, I wasn't trying to, and I don't think we really were at the end. She just started yellin' at me and throwin' things at me when I was just tryin' to comfort her!"

Tino was quiet for a moment. "Were you really trying to comfort her?"

Peter tried to nod. Tino stopped him again. "I was! I wasn't tryin' to tease or be mean or anything like that!"

"Then I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding. Let her calm down, and then the two of you can clear everything up." Tino began to wrap a cloth bandage around Peter's head. The bandage smushed his already unruly hair in new directions, and he was sure that he must have looked completely silly. "Who were you comforting?"

"Victoria." Peter was ready to be done talking about it. "Where's Berwald?" It was late, even in this region of the Spades Kingdom. Usually Tino's husband was home at this hour.

"You mean the daughter of the couple that was killed?" Tino exhaled a distressed breath. "That poor dear. It must be a simply unimaginable day for her, Peter. Don't take whatever happened personally. It's all so terrible. My heart clenches even when I think about it now, and if I'm this upset you can imagine how hurt Berwald was when he first heard the news. Of course, when he heard that a _bomb_ bounced off the Clubs Kingdom's royal carriage and blew up the one behind it, he was horrified to think it was possible the Spades Kingdom took any of his inventions or ideas and corrupted them into a weapon. They've been pressing him to design new weapons, you know. He thought being the Ace of innovation would mean he'd get to design more efficient farming tools and -gosh, I'm not sure, faster transportation?- but now they're pressing for guns and canons and he could only try designing a few before he threw them all away. Even if this wasn't a weapon of his, he won't stand for the Spades Kingdom being responsible for this, so he rushed over to the castle right away. He's been there since early this afternoon."

Peter took in his surroundings as Tino's speech wandered this way and that (their thoughts always got more scattered the older they got. Peter was used to it). He definitely smelled something cooking -or, more likely, something trying to stay warm for Berwald's return home. After a couple hundred years, it was kind of nice to see Tino the one waiting at home for Berwald's return instead of the other way around.

"He didn't aggravate his heart, did he," Peter asked, faking a glib tone to cover up his legitimate concern. He was sure Tino saw through him immediately.

"I made sure to tell him to take it easy. I also made him take his cane, just in case. Do you remember when he used to be stuck in the house all day? He'd make toys and furniture when he felt up to it, and even that could be pretty hard for him sometimes, so when he suddenly got that 'A' on his chest one day, _I_ nearly had a heartattack."

A small laugh escaped Peter. "Yeah, you were pretty freaked out that day. You were ready to leave Fabulacor so that Spades couldn't find him."

"And yet you were completely calm, like you just knew everything would be alright. It was certainly strange being calmed down by a child." Tino laughed as well. The sound trailed off naturally, but it's final notes held an emotion Peter had a hard time placing. "You've always been so good for him, you know. With his health, we didn't feel we could have a child like we always wanted, and I know that broke his heart, but then one day you popped into our house and everything changed. At first he pushed himself and made himself _worse_ , but then he started getting better and then he became the Ace of Spades and -gosh, the whole thing feels so magical whenever I think about it, you know? And I suppose that's because it _was_ , because you are pretty magical, Peter."

A lump had climbed into Peter's throat as Tino talked. Ever since the Blind Shuffle he had been watching Tino and Berwald from afar, afraid of what would happen if he tried to enter their lives again, afraid of how the two of them would react to a boy who never aged.

"Ah, did I embarrass you? I'm sorry!" Tino laughed again as they walked around the chair to face Peter. They smiled oddly at Peter before embracing him tightly.

"Tino…?" Peter's voice was cautious and his arms were stuck to his sides.

"We were worried about _you_ today, too. Berwald and I worry about you a lot, since we're not always sure where you go when you leave us. Whenever I thought about that poor young girl being left all alone, I thought about you and how you have no family of your own." They pulled back just enough to tenderly cradle Peter's hand in their palm. "But, you know, that doesn't have to be true if you don't want it to be. Berwald and I have considered you a part of our family since day one, and if we could ever have a child, we'd be blessed by Fortuna if it was you."

There had been two repercussions of the Blind Shuffle that always bothered Peter the most. The first was the decline of Berwald's health. The Berwald of Peter's youth had always seemed unbreakable, like the trunk of an oak tree, but after the Blind Shuffle he was always born with a weak heart, as if the shock of the events of the Blind Shuffle had not only emotionally broken his heart, but physically as well. The second was the stagnation of Tino's body. From what Gilbert had told Peter, before the Blind Shuffle it was anyone's guess what form they would take. However, after the Blind Shuffle, not once had Peter seen their body capable of successfully bearing a child.

In 800 years, nothing changed for Tino and Berwald. Berwald was always sick, and Tino always looked ill at the thought of having a child. Then, suddenly, in less than forty years, everything had changed. Berwald was strong enough to leave the house every day. Tino was thinking about having children again. His grandparents were moving forward again.

"You're wrong," Peter said with a huge smile on his face and tears streaming out of his eyes. "I was never alone, and Victoria won't be, either."

Sure enough, back in the Diamonds Kingdom a young girl was curled up against the Queen in a restless sleep.

* * *

Notes:

 _Grandwa_ : genderneutral replacement for grandma/grandpa. There are a bunch of other terms I could have chosen from, but I liked the sound of this one.

 _Carriage Bomb_ : For all you history nerds like me, you may have noticed Katyusha and her partner died via reference to the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. The two events didn't play out exactly the same because, well, Ivan didn't stick around the site of the bombing unlike some historical rulers. Given that Archduke Franz Ferdinand was also assassinated in a "carriage", I really had no choice but to enact some sort of carriage-based assassination attempt in a kingdom represented by both Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

 _Family Tree_ : In case you were confused or didn't catch it, Berwald and Tino were Alfred and Mathieu's parents before the Blind Shuffle. Yes, that wouldn't technically make them Peter's grandparents, but that's what Peter called them. I know better than anyone how complex the family trees in this story can seem, so I don't mind clarifying that or, as always, any other questions you guys have.

Tune in next month for Chapter 5: The Archives! It's one of my favorite chapters, so I think you guys will like it, too.


	5. The Archives

As always, welcome back! This chapter was really fun to write, so I'm so excited to finally be able to upload it.

New Characters Unlocked!

An: Vietnam

Also, make sure to note that this chapter starts after a long time skip!

* * *

 _-Year 717 A.B.S.-_

Victoria had never heard bells ring as clear and strong as those of the Spades Clocktower. Their sound vibrated in her bones as she stood under the might of the intense afternoon sun on the steps of Spades Castle. It was her first time outside of the Diamonds Kingdom in ten years, and she was doing her best to soak up every second the Clocktower ticked away.

"This sound always takes me back," Francois mused as he exited the car Victoria had accompanied him in. Cars were gaining popularity in Diamonds, but Spades had so many that they actually clogged the streets for hours. Thankfully, their driver had anticipated this, and they weren't considerably late for their arrival at the Spades Court.

"Reminiscing again, eh Francois," Mathieu teased lightly as he stood by Francois' side and helped him out of the car. The slow process of exiting the vehicle had come to a screeching halt when Francois decided to start "reminiscing". Victoria turned to watch the duo, as did her personal guard for the trip, An.

An was a somewhat newer Ranked Guard and someone Victoria considered a dear friend. Unfortunately, not everyone was as fond of An. Her existence at the court was the cause of constant controversy because of separatist rumblings that had originated in the region she was from. With the revelation that the failed assassination of the Clubs King and Queen (and successful murder of Victoria's parents) had been enacted by an internal extremist opposition group, all of the Kingdoms of Fabulacor were on edge when it came to dissent. An's homeland was a curious case, as it was believed to be mostly inhabited by the displaced descendants of the people who had lived in Fabulacor before the land had become "Fabulacor". These people never had suit marks, and Fabulacor never quite knew what to do with them (not that many inhabitants of Fabulacor had them anymore, either). They had all been shoved into Diamonds' territory at the end of the Blind Shuffle where they were treated as lesser subjects. An was the first of her people to ever enter a Fabulacor court, and Victoria marveled at her strength. Their friendship was strongly supported by the fact that they had their own unique understanding of what it meant to be an included outsider in the Diamonds Kingdom.

"When you get as old as me, there is not much left to do." Francois laughed at himself. Mathieu just smiled. "But this sound in this place... it is particularly special, is it not? If I remember correctly, it was here when you…"

Mathieu laughed as a light blush lit up his cheeks. "Not this story again Francois, please! It was just coincidence!"

"It was not! But if you will not let me tell you, then I shall just have to tell Victoria and An." Francois finally got out of the car, allowing Mathieu to close the door behind him. The Ace and King linked arms as Francois started up the stairs, and though Mathieu was doing a great job of masking the reality of the situation, Victoria could tell that Francois was relying very heavily on Mathieu for support with every step up.

Victoria imagined that needing to get help up the stairs would have been a blow to the King's pride, but when Francois looked at her and An all she saw was a glint in his eyes that tiptoed between playfulness and mischievousness.

"You two have seen the large greenhouses we have in our Royal Gardens, correct?"

Both women nodded.

"And you both know we got them from the Spades Kingdom?"

Again, they nodded, indulging the King. Once Francois and Mathieu had reached them on the stairs, the two women started walking with them.

"Now, do you know why they gave them to us?"

"Well, they were a gift, weren't they," Victoria answered.

"Yes, yes, but do you know _why_?"

"No. Why," An asked.

Mathieu sighed and shook his head. Francois ignored him entirely.

"The Spades Clocktower had been broken since the days of the Blind Shuffle. No matter what anyone tried, the clock refused to work. But then, the very first time Mathieu accompanied me to the Spades Kingdom, the current Ace of Spades finally managed to get the clock to tick again. Believe it or not, it was the exact moment Mathieu stepped on the stairs to Spades Castle that the Clocktower first shook the whole city once more."

"And how do you know it was _exactly_ when I took my first step that the clock started to ring again?"

Francois leaned into Mathieu's side and smiled up at him with all the playful affection of a new lover. "Because I always have my eyes on you, _Mathieu._ "

Having walked right into that one, Mathieu shut his mouth, turned his face away, and tried to hide his brightening blush. Francois laughed as he righted himself again. Out of the corner of her eyes, Victoria saw a small smile on An's face.

"That's quite the fairy tale you've just spun, my King," Victoria said between giggles.

"Eh? Fairy tale?" Francois deflated. "It is not a fairy tale! It is true!" He shook his head dramatically. When it came to the King, things were always at least five times more dramatic than they needed to be. "Oh, how I remember the days when you would believe anything, Victoria. I miss them so!"

"And there you go right back to reminiscing again." Mathieu laughed. "That really is all you do."

Francois tried to fake looking offended, but he failed immediately and collapsed into more laughter. Soon the whole group was laughing, and in that moment of careless joy, Victoria's awareness cursed her. They were all laughing like nothing in their world had changed, like everything was how it should be and how it had always been. In reality however, the normalcy surrounding their visit to Spades was abnormal in itself. It had taken two years of uneasy peace following the end of Clubs' civil war for Victoria to be able to convince everyone to let her leave the Diamonds Kingdom, and even then they still refused to let her back into Clubs. All that came out of Clubs anymore were rumors -rumors of massacres, of peace, or revolution, of despotism. And, to be honest, Victoria wasn't sure she was even ready to face the Kingdom that had killed her parents.

On the opposite end of things, when she thought about it, she felt odd standing in the Kingdom that had antagonized her childhood. Spades had respectfully quieted its disputes with Clubs in the face of the rival kingdom's internal difficulties, and she admired Spades for being a mature nation in the matter of island disputes, but she still felt wary of their enthusiastic acceptance of her request to join Mathieu and Francois on their courtesy "diplomatic visit". What did Spades want from her? What could they gain from her?

"Victoria."

Victoria turned to An and was met with a stern look attempting to root her back to the reality of the present moment.

Victoria adjusted her glasses and whispered under her breath, "Right. Thank you."

When the group entered the castle, a long, dark blue carpet was laid out before them. Francois and Mathieu naturally took the lead as they followed the carpet deep into the cluttered halls. Victoria's memories of the Clubs' castle were fuzzy, but she was pretty sure the amount or portraits and banners and miscellaneous other items lining the hallways was about equal to what the Diamonds' castle had. There were some hallways back at the Diamonds' castle that she thought got a little crowded with old weapons and pottery, but none of the hallways compared to the halls of Spades. Every hallway was like walking through the storage warehouse for a museum; the walls had a wallpaper of paintings and photographs; suits of armor were falling over themselves; and shelving was bending and bursting under the weight of most everything else.

"This has to be a fire hazard," Victoria whispered to An.

An nodded. "If they are not careful, they will lose all of their records for a second time."

Francois looked back at them playfully as Mathieu cleared his throat. Evidently, there had been no point in attempting to whisper. An stiffened, and Victoria sheepishly smiled at her for getting her in trouble with her commander.

When the tides of historical items receded, the group finally reached a pair of mahogany doors that nearly reached the high-vaulted ceiling. The doors opened seemingly on their own into the sound of trumpets welcoming the group. Victoria and An physically tensed, but Mathieu and Francois actually relaxed, clearly experienced diplomats.

The throne room proved to have more restraint in terms of decoration. In fact, there was really only one main feature, and that was the giant clock that hung across the room from the doorway. The clock seemed to be a replica of the one on the Clocktower, yet it had a presence all of its own. When Victoria looked into the clock's face she couldn't shake the feeling of being stared at by an ancient guardian of the transient. She stared back until she was satisfied.

Below the clock sat four old men. As Victoria's group continued to draw closer to them, she was able to make out that the man on the far left was in a wheelchair, the two men in the middle were sitting on thrones, and the final man -clearly the oldest of anyone in the room- was sitting on a simple wooden stool. She assumed that the men were sitting in the same positions recognized in the throne rooms of the other Kingdoms, so she knew that from left to right she was looking at the Ace, then the King, the Queen, and, finally, the Jack.

"Matty?" King Alfred leaned forward in his seat looking surprised, then confused, then incredibly excited. "Matty, what are you-" Jack Yao cleared his throat at the same time Queen Arthur nudged Alfred with his elbow. Alfred stopped, rolled his eyes, and assumed a dignified air. "King of Diamonds, Ace of Diamonds, and company: we warmly offer you the hands and hearts of the Spades Kingdom. May Fortuna bless our time together." Alfred looked at the Queen and Jack, who both gave a nod of approval. In an instant Alfred shed all decorum, his face becoming as open and warm as the weather outside. "What're ya'll doin' here?! I wasn't told you'd be comin' today!"

While Victoria and An bowed, Victoria heard Mathieu laugh. "That is sort of the point of a birthday surprise, Alfred."

"Birthday surprise?!" Alfred's head whipped back and forth to all the people sitting around him. The smile on his face reached both of his ears.

"You've been very gloomy lately, dear," Arthur said as he rested a hand on top of Alfred's. "It's been quite a long time since you've been able to see Mathieu, so we all thought you'd brighten up again if you got to see him. It just so happened that we were able to arrange for him and the others to come for your birthday tomorrow."

"'We'? Yao and Berwald knew about this too?"

"Not only did I know about it, but I faked all sorts of appointments for you today so that you could have the rest of the day off," Yao replied.

Alfred looked to Berwald. Berwald nodded.

"You guys," Alfred cried. His body shook, full of excitement but unsure of how to get it all out. Ultimately, he jumped up, smooched Arthur on the cheek, and then ran down to greet the visiting group.

When Alfred smashed into Mathieu with the force of his hug, Victoria was jolted by how similar the two looked up close. She had heard people tease Mathieu about his resemblance to the Spades King before, but she thought the claims were exaggerations fed by how easy it was to tease Mathieu. Now that she saw them side-by-side, however, it was hard to believe they weren't related in some way. There were small differences -Alfred's warmer skin, Mathieu's longer hair (now long enough to be held in a ponytail thanks to Francois' urgings)- but their faces were those of brothers.

"You must be Victoria, then, right?" Suddenly, Mathieu's lookalike was right in front of Victoria. "Gosh, look how much you've grown! Are the glasses new?"

"Well -no, not really. Ah!" Victoria blushed and bowed again. She had been so used to living with royalty that she had forgotten her manners. "They are a few years old now, y-your Highness!"

"Why are you asking as though you'd know if they were new or not," Arthur asked as he found his place by Alfred's side. "You haven't seen Victoria since she was a baby."

Alfred shrugged. "You'd understand if you wore glasses like Matty and me."

Arthur shook his head and gestured for Victoria to right herself. "Please excuse him. When he gets excited, he's impossible to control or reason with."

Francois poked his head between Alfred and Arthur and said, "As opposed to the Queen here, who is always impossible to control or reason with."

Arthur's composed smile snapped in a second. He snatched the front of Francois' shirt and yanked him down to his eye level.

"You know, I can't recall inviting _you_ to celebrate Alfred's birthday. Since you still have all of that clown makeup slathered on your face, are you perhaps here to serve as the entertainment?"

The sharp banter between Francois and Arthur was another jolt to Victoria's system. Again, she had heard teasing remarks about the love-hate relationship between the two monarchs, but she had never expected to hear and see such genuine malice. She was even more surprised when Alfred laughed the whole thing off while helping Mathieu separate the two of them.

"I'm glad to see some things never change!"

Mathieu hummed distractedly in response to Alfred's out-of-place optimism.

Francois and Arthur bounced back to their husbands' sides, Francois pretending to be innocent and Arthur five seconds away from exploding again. Were these men really in their late sixties and early seventies?

Alfred, oblivious to the mood, went right back to talking. "Hey, why don't we bring this party to the lounge?"

Without waiting for anyone's input, he started to walk away. Everyone followed him anyway as his charisma alone saved him from being completely intolerable. Mathieu, Alfred, Francois, and Arthur took up the front of the group while the other four comfortably took up the rear. Watching the four men ahead of her bicker and tease and cheer and cry made Victoria feel like she was watching a family reunite.

"How's the Diamonds Kingdom treated you?"

The gruff voice jolted her for a third time. She turned to face Berwald as he rode along next to her in his wheelchair. Looking at his stony face, she was suddenly reminded of her Babushka.

She smiled away the painful thump in her heart and replied, "I've gotten a little restless lately, but I find it hard to complain when I've received so much kindness."

A smile flashed so quickly on his face that Victoria was sure she had caught it only because she had had so much practice reading her Babushka. "Good. I'm glad."

He had only said three words, and that was because it was all he had to say. His unintentional harshness, his quick smile, his packed words -all of it reminded her of the Babushka she knew as a child, of the Babushka she hoped still existed somewhere in the Clubs Kingdom.

A tissue appeared in her line of vision. "I had a feeling there might be old allergy triggers here in Spades," An said.

Victoria took the tissue gratefully. She fought to hold back more tears at her friend's kindness as she dabbed her eyes just in case her efforts failed. "Ah, y-yes, thank you."

In front of them, Yao hummed in disappointment. "If your allergies are bad, then taking you to the Archives may not be the best idea today. I regret to say that it gets very dusty in there."

"Huh? The Archives?" Victoria knew of the famous Spades Archives -the most extensive collection of historical documents in all of Fabulacor- but she had not heard anything about being able to see them on her first trip to the kingdom.

The suggestion also caught Mathieu's attention. "You plan on giving Victoria a tour of the Archives, Yao?"

"You won't even give me one," Alfred whined.

"Do not even try that on me, your Highness. Whenever I try, you either fall asleep or daydream." After ending his statement with an annoyed huff, Yao smiled kindly in Victoria's direction. "And, yes, someone in the Diamonds Kingdom requested that I show Victoria some of our volumes. Are you interested?"

Victoria thought about trying to hide the full extent of her excitement, but it was pointless; by the time the thought had occurred to her, she was already beaming. "I would be honored to be showed around! And my allergies should be fine, really."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

"Then perhaps we could go now."

"Oh, could we?" Victoria asked this while looking at Mathieu pleadingly. She would feel much more comfortable surrounded by books than sitting awkwardly while Alfred, Mathieu, Francois, and Arthur continued to play around. She thought An would be more interested in the former as well, but what she hadn't expected to see was a hopeful look on Yao's face as well.

"I have no problem with it." Mathieu looked at Alfred. "Do you?"

Alfred shook his head. "Not at all! The lounge we'll be usin' is just one more hallway up, so if ya'll finish lookin' around early, look for us there."

"Thank you!" Victoria turned directly to Yao. "Is it alright if An joins us as well?"

There was a brief sign of hesitance that threatened to ignite anger within Victoria, but when Yao nodded she was placated. "Of course. We will just turn here." Yao pointed down a hallway to their right that was just as cluttered as all of the others.

"Have fun," Francois called out once the three of them split off from the group. Victoria was pretty sure she heard Arthur says something in response, but she had already stopped listening by that point.

"Vash has told me that you have done a lot of studying during your time in the Diamonds Kingdom," Yao said.

"Well, you can only play around for so long," Victoria replied.

Yao laughed. "Well said. What have you been studying?"

"Uncle Vash has taught me fairly extensively about economics."

"As one would expect from him," Yao cut in.

"But I've dabbled in almost everything since then. Trigonometry, anatomy, anthropology, physics, writing, politics -Mathieu even had me take the Spades Service Exam last year just to see how I would do."

"Oh? How did you do? Since I write them every year, I am curious to know."

Victoria laughed in embarrassment. "Let's just say that I won't be up for election to the Spades Parliament any time soon."

Yao smirked. "Good. If the exam were too easy, then anyone could get voted into our government. What did you have trouble with?"

Victoria began to absentmindedly play with the red ribbon that held a loose side-braid in place in her hair. "I'm embarrassed, but the history portion was definitely my worst section."

Yao looked shocked. "Now that is just an insult to your grandmother! The Queen of Diamonds is an amazing historian!"

Victoria's hands fell back to her sides. "Nana's health is always in flux, and when it's at its worse, I don't like bothering her with questions."

Yao snorted. "Nonsense. Lili has never been bothered by questions about history. It's no different than asking her brother about economics."

Yao was right; no matter how bad her health got, Lili would happily tell stories for hours. The truth was that Victoria had stopped wanting to hear them after her parents died. In Vash's economics, there were right and wrong answers; in Lili's histories, Victoria could never tell what was truth and what was fiction. All she had wanted was for everything to be straightforward, even if only for a little while.

"To be fair to you," Yao continued, "besides Lili, there are no good historical records in Diamonds. Vash has papers telling you the exact number of grain bunches sold to the Hearts Kingdom on a single day in 294 BS, but he cannot tell you who was reigning in the Hearts Kingdom at that time. That is what _my_ collection is for."

The three of them approached a set of doors that were much smaller than those leading to the throne room but also far more elaborate. Silver metalwork of lions and dragons and unicorns and eagles (along with a whole afternoon's worth of other creatures and images to search for) was pushed aside by Yao, revealing to An and Victoria one of the biggest rooms they had ever seen. From the doorway they couldn't see the back of the room, and the tops of the higher bookshelves continued above them despite the fact that they had entered two flights of stairs above the floor. An and Victoria were shocked frozen, and Yao's pride was growing by the second. Admiring the Spades Archives was no different than admiring the Jack of Spades himself, after all.

"Come along," Yao eventually prompted, presumably after his pride had been puffed up to his satisfaction. "We haven't even opened any of the records yet!"

An and Victoria looked at each other before following Yao down the stairs to the bottom of the Archive.

"Excuse me for asking," An started, "but how do you get to the volumes that are higher up?"

After hearing An's question, Victoria looked around for any sign of a ladder or other system of getting up the bookshelves, but she couldn't find any.

"Traditionally, magic." As Yao answered, he held up his right hand. From somewhere deep within the the Archives, a rustling sound preceded the appearance of a flying book that landed neatly in his hand. "Magic is strangely rare in the Diamond and Clubs Kingdoms, but the Spades and Hearts always have a high prevalence of magic. For those without a hand for magic, Berwald did develop a few contraptions. Can either of you use magic?"

The young women shook their heads.

"That is not a problem," Yao assured. "Not even our King can use magic." He sent the book in his hand away and turned to a white button on one of the bookcases. This time the hum of a motor started up beyond their line of sight followed by the squeaking of wheels. Eventually, a wheeled platform appeared before them. It looked a bit clunky, but also reliable. Yao stepped onto the platform, and the women followed.

"Believe it or not, this can take us all the way to the top of a bookshelf if we need it to."

"What's it called," Victoria asked.

Yao ran a hand through his long, silver hair. "Ah, I think Berwald calls it Tamago-go. Or, more accurately, I believe his partner named it that." He shook his head. "Anyway, the Tamago-go makes getting around this place easier as my bones get older, so I also use it fairly often." He pressed a button on the Tamago-go and then he took up her steering wheel as it moved through the bookshelves.

"The Spades Archive has the original copy of every written record of the Four Kingdoms spanning from the beginning of the Blind Shuffle until now. That is 800 years of history in just one room!"

"But Fabulacor is older than that," Victoria countered.

"I thought you did poorly on the history portion of my exam."

"I did, but _everyone_ knows our history goes back before the Blind Shuffle. The year it started is known simultaneously as both 1 BS _and_ 1050 BBS. That's 1,050 years of history missing."

" _Mostly_ missing."

Victoria paused. "Mostly?"

Yao nodded. "The Blind Shuffle started when everyone in the Four Kingdoms mysteriously lost any memories from before 1037 BBS, and it was made even worse when a sudden fire destroyed almost all of the records in the Spades Archive. However, the Jack of Spades at the time had been able to save two records. The first tells of the near-mythical foundings of Fabulacor, how the people of Hearts had been led here and saved by Fortuna from fighting in the West. Some people do not believe it to be a real historical document, others have made it the foundational text for worshipping Fortuna. Most think the original document - _Foundations of Fabulacor_ , if you have heard of it- is in Hearts' Castle, but that is just an early copy. The true original is still here in the Archives. The other text is less well-known and less-complete."

"What is it," Victoria asked.

"I will show you at the end of the tour," Yao promised cryptically.

Victoria lost track of time as Yao pointed out all sorts of books she might be interested in. The southeast corner of the room was devoted to Clubs' history, the southwest to Diamonds', the northwest to Hearts', and, finally, the northeast to Spades. Yao talked extensively in all four sections, but his knowledge about Spades was predictably the most exhaustive. An looked bored once they had gotten to the Hearts' Kingdom, but Victoria remained enthralled the whole time. She couldn't help it; she had always been a sucker for a good story. With a pile of books graciously lent to her by Yao, she had nearly forgotten about his promise to show her the other book saved during the Blind Shuffle.

"...And that was how the Spades Kingdom facilitated trade agreement between themselves and pirateering groups all the way back in 498 ABS. Ah! We have finally made it to the one book I was asked to show you!"

With the wave of his hand, a charred book came to Yao. He presented it to Victoria, but she was apprehensive about taking it into her own hands. Even in Yao's experienced grasp, it looked like the book might fall apart at any second. Still, she took it and eyed it as carefully as she could.

"And this is…?"

"The handwritten record of the Blind Shuffle's Jack of Spades' life at court."

An suddenly woke up and looked at the book with genuine interest. "What?"

Yao smiled. "A lot of the pages were lost, and the binding has been redone many times, but the words in there are all from that Jack. It is the only text that gives us a hint at what truly happened to cause the Blind Shuffle. The wording can be tough at times, but I encourage you to try reading it if you are at all interested."

"Who wouldn't be interested?" Victoria was in disbelief. To be able to hold such an old text was the last thing she had expected she'd get to do during her stay in Spades.

"Because it is so old and precious, however, I have to ask that if you read it, you do it here in the Archives. This is a text we cannot lose."

Victoria nodded. "Of course. I understand completely." While she had been nervous about just touching the book before, she was now anxious to page through it. "Could...well, if it's not too much trouble, could I read it now?"

Yao noded. "I had some studying of my own that I was hoping to get done while the King and Queen were occupied, so you can read while I do that."

Yao took them to the center of the room, where a solid wooden table stood on a large, spade-shaped carpet. Victoria sat at the table with An standing close behind her.

"Aren't you going to sit," she asked shook her head in disbelief. "My duty on this trip is to protect you. That will be easier to do standing than sitting."

"If you need anything," Yao cut back in, "I shall be in the Diamonds' Quadrant."

Victoria smiled brightly at the old man. "Thank you again, sir."

"No, thank _you_. It has been a long time since anyone took interest in what I have to say about these old volumes."

It was a statement that was hard to reply to, so Victoria just continued to smile as Yao wheeled away on the Tamago-go. Once he was out of sight, her attention was immediately on the rare volume she had been handed.

It was clear that the partially-faded cover wasn't 800 years old, especially when it was compared to the distressed state of the pages inside. Most pages were completely loose, while others held onto the binding precariously. However, all of them had clear burn marks; in fact, some of the "pages" were just scraps of paper burned around all of the edges. In such a condition, Victoria was a little surprised Yao had claimed the Blind Shuffle Jack of Spades had "saved" the book -it felt much more accurate to say that the Jack had scavenged it.

"I am surprised by how interested you are in that book," An piped in as she looked over Victoria's shoulder. "Usually you go quiet whenever someone mentions the Blind Shuffle."

"I've been told a lot of stories," Victoria sighed. "But it's always been hard figuring out what was true and what was just fantasy. I had been hoping this would have all the answers, but there really isn't much to it, huh?"

An stood back up. "So you are just going to give up before even starting?"

"I didn't say that. I'm just...lowering my expectations for what I'll find."

Victoria picked up a random page and began to read. To her dismay, it had no date, so she was going into it completely blind.

" _and it should be said -nay, it needs to be said that of all the Four Fortunate Kingdoms of Fabulacor, the Spades has, as a whole, drifted the furthest from the traditions set by our enlightened forefathers. It is true that this may in fact be a consequence of Spades never quite being true to form from its inception. As the first power to bitterly detach itself from the Most Fortunate Kingdom, Spades was punished with a myriad of deformities, including, most painfully, the exclusion of an Ace from her Court. No Ace has ever been discovered or recorded in our entire history, making the might of our Kingdom appear lesser to our neighbors, such is the importance of a decorated Ace in this land._ [Here, a small part of the page had been burned away] _our sister Kingdom, Diamonds, shared our deformity, marking the absence of an Ace as a side effect of separation from Hearts, or, perhaps, divine retribution for ever upsetting the balance of Fortuna's favored Kingdom. In opposition to our sister in separation, we have"_

There the page ended entirely, giving Victoria a pretty good idea of the constant suspense she was going to be left in as she picked up and read as many scraps and pages as she could.

" _the two are equals in so many facets of body and mind that it is only natural that they each marked the other as an enemy upon their first meeting. The most troublesome aspect of their relationship, and I believe that my Queen would agree with me on this point, is that when you see them fight you feel you are not witnessing a great and witty battle between true monarchs, but a pitiful name-calling match between children. Thus, for fear of whatever his Highness will say or do to embarrass us all, I always loathe whenever we are to meet with Clubs."_

" _Has a livelier coronation ever occurred in our time-honored Kingdom? All_ [...] _I may not be_ [...] _such rare smiles should never be discredited."_

" _the Ace of Spades has at last been found, though I regret that he is not at all what our Kingdom wants or needs in these turbulent times. We had hoped for a champion, and instead we received a child who has only just recently reached the celebrated age of full court. Other Aces are typically twice that age when their marks first appear on their chests, proving once again that Spades is the constant target of disadvantage in an effort to keep her equal to her sister Kingdoms. This"_

"Wait." Victoria reread the last passage. "'the celebrated age of full court'? What does that mean? How old is that?"

"What does it say?" Victoria held up the passage to An for her to read. "Well...Mathieu was twenty-four when he became Ace, and half of that would be twelve."

Victoria hummed to let An know she had been heard. "If...if a 'full court' was meant to refer to a court with every Ranked Guard position and all four throne positions filled, then that would make the child…thirteen." Victoria's eyes widened. "Thirteen!"

"Does that mean something?"

"Yes! Maybe! I think so!" Victoria went back to the book and tried searching through the papers as fast as she could without ruining any of them. She was looking for anymore references to the child Ace whom the Jack was so disappointed in.

"Which one is it? Yes? Maybe?" An's questions had a playful sarcasm to them, but Victoria was too focused on her search to acknowledge them.

"Wait! Here!"

" _What is there to say? I am the only one at Court with any words left, but even they are dwindling fast in the face of what we have allowed to happen. If I write that we had no choice, that that damnable Joker left no room for argument by imposing the will of Fortuna, that would be but a half-truth. Responsibility ultimately falls on those who gave the order that was followed without coercion, and so we are all marked culpable._

" _In accordance with tradition, we have sent a child to his death. What more is there to say?"_

"Dear Fortuna," Victoria whispered in disbelief. On a separate scrap of paper she read,

" _The child is gone. The Joker's typical smile was nowhere to be seen when he presented to the King and I the fragile corpse. The Joker swears that he had not been a witness to the murder, and whether this is true or not we were nonetheless left to hypothesize what had happened based on the wounds that had been left behind. I will not go into too much detail about the wounds themselves here, but the best narrative the three of us could construct goes as follows: the Icy Blade of Clubs slashed him from behind, and after he fell forward to the ground, he was stabbed through the heart. Though his countenance was uninjured, the King and I asked the Joker to take the child away and never allow his brother or his adopted grandparents to see him in this state. To allow them closure without having to see the child, we presented to them the small wooden boat the grandfather had carved for the boy when he was very small. The toy we presented was splattered with dark liquid, and this was sufficient to get the message acr_ [...] _There is a great temptation amongst us at Court to blame the Icy Blade of Clubs for being so ruthless to a child who had not yet turned fourteen, but did not the ruthlessness originate with us? We knew we were sending him to the battlefield where Clubs' champion would be waiting to slay him, yet off we sent him._

" _There is no time nor place to celebrate the taking of the Vows of Fortuna by the King and Queen. The myth was true: should the King and Queen ever take the Vows of Fortuna, death and destruction will follow."_

In the back of the volume there was a single page that was mostly intact. Despite it's relatively pristine condition, there was very little written on it.

" _A thousand years of records are gone. Only this book and the_ Foundations of Fortuna _remain. Our one hope in regaining the memories that have been stolen from us has vanished. Popular anger and fear is being focused on a single culprit who no one can remember the face of and who cannot defend themselves: the Queen of Diamonds. They, too, have vanished without a trace which, in the minds of the masses, only solidifies their guilt. I have nothing to say of these accusations. All I can do is mourn. Mourn for the loss of our past, mourn for the direction of our future, and mourn for the innocent blood on our hands."_

Victoria was lucky An had given her a tissue earlier, because by the end of the final page she definitely needed it.

"What are you reading on these scraps?" An scanned the pages and then had to scan them again with wide eyes to be sure what she had read was correct. "They...They never include this in the history books." She looked at Victoria sadly. "Are these the answers you were looking for?"

Victoria stared blankly at her fingers and the crumpled tissue they held, making no immediate move to answer. Suddenly, some sort of shift within her became external when her posture straightened and her eyes grew fierce. "No. Now I only have _more_ questions. The people I know, the people I've heard about…" She shot up from her chair and started to gather up the pieces of pages that had spilled in her searching. "I have to find the Jack! He must know if the child described on these pages is really who I think it is! And if it _is_ who I think it is, how can that be? And, and, what happened to the Blind Shuffle Queen of Diamonds?! He…!" The fire that had been charging all of Victoria's words and actions flickered. "He couldn't have just... _disappeared._ " She shook her head and brought her fire back to its full strength. "Because that doesn't make any sense! People don't just vanish!"

"Finding the Jack should not be too hard."

"I know, he said he'd be-"

"No, I mean," An pointed across the table to where Yao was hunched over, sleeping. "He sat down while you were reading. You must have been so focused, you did not notice."

Victoria stopped gathering up the papers as a blush dusted her cheeks. "Oh. Whoops."

A small chuckle came from An. "I have never met someone who gets as lost in their head as you do, Victoria. You notice so many small things, but you miss so many big things. Will you even notice if your goddess comes to meet you one day?"

Victoria mock laughed in response. "Very funny. I'm not that bad."

An gave her a look of total disbelief.

"So mean," Victoria cried playfully. For a moment she feared that the King of Diamonds was rubbing off on her.

The two women moved to stand on either slide of the still-sleeping Yao.

"If he is still asleep after all of your loud declarations, I do not think we will be able to wake him up any time soon," An commented.

"I think he's in his nineties now. Are we sure he's just sleeping?"

"You can hear him snoring."

They both went quiet to confirm that it was his snoring that they heard. It was.

"Well," Victoria took a deep breath and the huffed it out. "I'm starting to get hungry, and he looks really comfortable as he is, so I say we go to the lounge and see what the plan is. How long have we been here?"

"At least a couple of hours. The Jack's tour was very long."

It was Victoria's turn to laugh. "I might get lost in my head, but at least I'm good at hiding when I'm not actually interested in something."

An shrugged. "No one can be perfect."

In high spirits, the two women left Yao and his books behind (Victoria was sure she'd return to the Archive later to tackle the other records she had taken interest in) and headed for the lounge. The stuffed halls had a lot of items that made for great landmarks, so they found their way back to the point where they had diverged from the larger group fairly easily. They checked each door, listening for voices until they finally found who they were looking for.

Victoria raised her hand, ready to knock until she heard,

"So, has Victoria had any marks appear yet?"

The voice belonged to King Alfred. Victoria dropped her hand to her side and then her whole body to the ground as her curiosity to know why King Alfred was asking about her overtook her. An rolled her eyes, but joined Victoria crouched down on the floor with their ears pressed to the door.

There was a sad laugh that could only belong to Mathieu. "No, nothing yet. Not even a suit mark."

"That's a shame," said Arthur. "From what you've told us, she would fill any position at Court just fine."

Alfred snorted. "At this point, anyone could fill any position in any Court in Fabulacor and we'd be happy. Sometimes I'm convinced Yao died years ago and now he's just hauntin' the place, waitin' around for the next generation to appear while messin' with me."

"Alfred, dear, I've told you a hundred times that you of all people should not have been walking around the castle that late at night on your own. Just because you ran into Yao and got scared does not mean he's a ghost or a ghoul or whatever strange stories you've concocted in that easily-excitable brain of yours."

"Yeah, well, don't come cryin' to me when ya see him walkin' through walls one day, Arty."

"I take this all to mean you have yet to find any Spades citizen with any Court marks." It was Francois speaking this time, and he sounded more serious than Victoria was used to. She had sat in on quite a number of Diamonds' political meetings, but she wasn't used to Francois being serious in a casual setting like the one she assumed existed beyond the door.

Arthur sighed. "Not a one. We've combed every inch of our Kingdom, and we've asked Peter countless times if any marks have appeared, but we've come up completely empty. It doesn't help to ease our minds that even suit marks are rare among the general population nowadays -Victoria herself being a great case in point. Any word from Clubs on how their search is going, if they're even doing one?"

"Nothing reliable," Mathieu replied.

"Nothin' from there ever is." Alfred groaned long and loud. "I'm ready to retire, damn it! Spades is great, but I'm tired! We've even started searchin' our colonies, that's how desperate we're gettin'! Speakin' of which, look at ya'll! Ya'int got no new Court marks poppin' up, but ya'll do got that one Ranked Guard with Victoria! What was her name again?"

"Oh, An! Yeah, I'm really proud of her. I think she's starting to change how some people think about our Kingdom and what it can be."

Mathieu's praise brimmed with pride, and Victoria couldn't help but smile when she saw An blush next to her.

"But she hasn't changed everyone's minds, now has she?" The tone of Arthur's question caused a huge shift in the atmosphere that could even be felt from the other side of the door.

"Well...no." Mathieu sounded confused for the moment. "These processes are slow. You two should know that."

"'Course we do! Arty, Yao, and me are the best when it comes to colonies and all the messiness of popular opinion and-"

"That is all very nice," Francois cut in, "But I do not think that was what Mathieu was getting at. Diamonds does not have any colonies."

"What a wonderful delusion you have going by telling yourselves that Tiến lên isn't a colony," Arthur snided.

"It is no colony like you are thinking of," Francois retorted. "It is within Diamonds borders."

"And it is completely inhabited by outsiders who want to either separate or destroy Diamonds altogether. If you don't have control over that region as a colony, then Diamonds is in serious trouble with or without the appearance of dynastic descendants."

"What is this about," Mathieu asked, anger Victoria had never heard from him before creeping into his voice. "Where are you getting this information?"

"Whoa, Matty, relax! We ain't tryin' to start nothin' with ya! After what happened in Clubs, we're just worried about anymore crazy groups poppin' up. Diamonds has got a big problem to the West, and Spades can help!"

There was a pause.

"You're up to something," Mathieu finally said.

"Why're ya bein' so suspicious, Matty? We ain't-"

"Does this have anything to do with Hearts?"

The silence was immediate and suffocating after Francois' question. Not even Victoria dared to breathe.

"We...We haven't said nothin' 'bout Hearts," Alfred shakily defended.

"Right. Hearts has curiously been absent from our entire conversation since the beginning." There was the sound of a glass being put down on a table. Victoria imagined it was Francois doing this before sitting back with a knowing look on his face. "Yet last week a dear friend of mine returned from a very long voyage - _much_ longer than usual, especially with how fast ships have become lately. He had many weird things with him as well, but the weirdest thing in his possession was a Hearts uniform in his personal trunk of clothing. My friend has always devoted himself to Fortuna alone, so he typically never wears any outside indicator of Fabulacor Kingdom loyalties. Granted, Hearts is the most religious of the Four Kingdoms, so it does make sense that if he were to pick a Kingdom to dedicate himself to, it would be Hearts. What this does not explain, however, is why he would have this outfit while spending the last three years in _Spades_ -held territories."

Silence.

"Damn that pirate," Arthur cursed.

"Well, if ya'll already suspect somethin'," Alfred took a deep breath, "there ain't no reason to keep hidin' it." He exhaled long and low. "We're in the final stages of a deal with Hearts. They've had their eyes on some territories near our Hon and Philla colonies, and they just so happen to be one of two Kingdoms physically between us and Clubs. The deal is that we let 'em set up bases in our colonies 'till they get a good foothold in their new colonies, and in return they let our army walk through them on the way to Clubs and maybe even lend us some soldiers. Now, if ya'll need help controlling some uncooperative groups in your Kingdom, we'd be happy ta help ya out in exchange for joinin' our little coalition against Clubs."

There was some sort of commotion, but Victoria couldn't piece together what all of the sounds were.

"This is...this is...this is cruelty! This is madness!" Victoria thought she had heard Mathieu angry earlier. She had been wrong; _now_ he was angry. "I thought all of this was behind us! Clubs has been through so much, and now that they're starting to recover, you're going to continue the war you postponed nine years ago! _Why?!_ "

"They ain't recovered, Matt! They're a goddess-damned mess that can't even get any real information out! They're either a dictatorship or an anarchy wasteland, and either way we're gonna do what we should've from the beginnin'!"

"You're going to kick them when they're down? Yes, how very heroic of all of you! I don't know how I could have interpreted this as a greedy Kingdom taking advantage of their eternal enemy while they're still vulnerable!"

"Why're ya makin' that sound like a bad thing?1 That's what politics _is_!"

"No! That's not what it is at all! Politics is about serving the people, not tearing them apart by plunging the world around them into war! What does Berwald think about all of this?"

"We haven't told 'im!"

"If you haven't told Berwald, then you must know you're doing something wrong!"

This is what our people want! Parliament's drafting our official Declaration of War right now!"

"What are you waiting for? A staged attack so that your invasion doesn't look unprovoked?!"

A grunt from behind Victoria and An made them both jump and fall to the ground. When Victoria looked up, she saw that it was Berwald who had silently wheeled up behind them. Looking into his pained eyes, she knew Alfred was being foolish when he said they hadn't told Berwald anything; the Ace already knew exactly what was going on.

The two women stood up and bowed to Berwald. He acknowledged them with a curt nod before knocking on the door. All of the shouting from the other side stopped immediately.

"It's me," Berwald said, his voice no louder than it needed to be. "I'm comin' in."

When the door opened, Mathieu spun to face the doorway, his mouth open and filled with words that died as soon as he saw Victoria and An. After a beat, his shoulders slumped and his eyes dropped. Francois and Arthur, sitting opposite of each other on the two couches in the cozy room, were also avoiding eye contact. In fact, of the four of them, only Alfred, who was standing with Mathieu in the middle of the room, was able to face them with flushed cheeks.

"Oh, hey Berwald, Victoria, An." Alfred forced a laugh out. "How long've ya'll been out there?"

"Just got here," Berwald replied easily.

"Yao fell asleep while we were in the Archive," Victoria explained further. "We were starting to get hungry, and he didn't look like he'd be waking up anytime soon, so we came here to see what the plan was. Is...um...everything alright? We heard shouting."

The cheerfulness in Alfred's laughter was transparently false. "Yeah, yeah, everythin's fine. Matty and me were just havin' a little siblin'-like fight. Don't wory 'bout nothin'." He waited for someone else to interject or back him up, but no one did. "But ya know what? Food sounds great! I'm starvin'!"

"When aren't you starving, dear," Arthur asked as he stood.

"Exactly! And when ya need somethin', you should always jump at offers to get it."

No one could have missed the look Alfred shot Mathieu and Francois, but neither of them reacted directly to it.

"It has been quite some time since I have had authentic Spades cuisine," Francois commented. "Hopefully it has gotten better since the last time I was here."

"Oh, shut it, clown," Arthur shot back.

Mathieu completely turned his back to Alfred and Arthur as he helped Francois back to his feet. Anger and hurt flashed across Alfred's face before being buried by an overbearing smile.

"Are ya'll for eatin' or not?"

"We have nothing more to discuss, so I think now's the perfect time to get some food." Mathieu returned Alfred's earlier look before smiling at An and Victoria. "You should tell us what you learned in the Archives! Yao kept you busy for quite a while!"

"Oh, ah…"

Victoria looked to An before continuing any comments. Her friend still seemed to be in shock over what had been inadvertently revealed to them -which, for the time being, worked to their advantage. She wasn't displaying any emotion, so no one (or, at least, Alfred and Arthur, who knew her the least) had any reason to suspect their half-truths. However, her mask of shock was already starting to crack, and underneath Victoria could see the hints of a terrible storm. Victoria felt conflicted as well (Official colonization of Tiến lên? Backdoor negotiations with Hearts? War with Clubs?), but it was in moments like these that she understood all the ways her situation as a Clubs refugee diverged from An's fight to simultaneously be the voice of her people and become more than they were assumed to be.

She took An's hand and smiled at the men in the room.

"I guess the most interesting thing I can think of right now is the book _Foundations of Fabulacor._ Did you know the original is here in Spades, not in Hearts?"

For now, she would keep her secrets, just as others were trying to keep theirs.

* * *

The joke alternative title to this chapter is "Yao's Bitch Book".

Notes:

 _Tiến lên:_ This name is taken from the national card game of Vietnam! If you're interested in learning more about it, then I encourage you to look it up on Wikipedia (I am in no way an expert, haha) Speaking of Vietnam, I'm actually curious to know what you guys think of An. Vietnam isn't a very common character, and I have her interacting with another rather uncommon character (Monaco). If you have any thoughts on the matter, I would love to hear what you think of her, Victoria, and their relationship.

 _Spades Government_ : I'm such a history loser that I eagerly constructed a fictional government based on Tang China and contemporary British parliament. It works more or less like this: All citizens over the age of sixteen have the right to vote. All citizens over the age of twenty have the right to take a Civil-Service-Exam-like test. Anyone who passes this exam has the right to run for a position in Parliament, and these candidates are then voted in or out of office by the populace based on districts.

Tune in next month for _Chapter 6: Hearts Story!_ As always, leave comments, questions, plot guesses, or anything else on the chapter, in my inbox on tumblr, or in tags on the tumblr post announcing this chapter (for those of you I tag on that every month). I read all of those things and I'll happily reply with any info I can!


	6. Hearts' Story

Sorry this chapter is a week late. Life got busy, and, as it turns out, I was far too ambitious in hoping to finish this story before the sixth chapter was due to be uploaded. I'll do my best to update chapter 7 on the 26/27th of June (getting the story back on schedule), but I hope everyone can be understanding if my life gets in the way again.

New Characters Unlocked!

Gilbert: Prussia

Feliciano: Italy

Kiku: Japan

Lovino: Romano

Ludwig: Germany

* * *

 _-Year 717 A.B.S.-_

The rain pelting the ground outside Hearts Castle as it mixed with the sound of distant, rhythmic chanting from within created a dull, constant buzz in the air that allowed Victoria to remain silent as she was escorted to Fortuna's Fortress, the central site for religious pilgrims in Fabulacor. She was excited to see the old temple that sat at the heart of Hearts Castle, but at the same time her mind was distracted by a storm of thoughts.

It hadn't taken long for An and Victoria to spill the truth of what they had heard to Mathieu, and instead of being mad at them he looked more mad at himself. He had requested that they keep what they had heard to themselves to avoid panic, and this they did, though the weight of the potential consequences of their shared secret ate away at them daily. In addition, the fragmented information about the Blind Shuffle Victoria had gained while in Spades spun her thoughts into so many circles she'd get dizzy. She had theories she didn't think could be true, theories she didn't want to be true, and theories she couldn't prove to be true. Stored in her mind, all of her theories were safe from whatever the truth was, but she couldn't keep going that way forever. She had too many questions and too few people to turn to, and it was all driving her insane. When Mathieu invited Victoria to accompany him to the Hearts Kingdom a month after their visit to Spades, she felt relieved; instead of sitting around Diamonds holding the threat of all-out war and historical conspiracy within her, she could help smack some sense into the Hearts Kingdom to get them to stop selfishly antagonizing Clubs.

At least, that's what she had hoped she'd get to do when Mathieu first invited her.

Instead she was walking to an old temple while Mathieu met directly with the Hearts royalty in a last-minute effort to stop the impending war. She knew _why_ she hadn't been allowed into the meeting -her loyalties were questionable because of her familial ties to Clubs, she lacked both a suit mark and a court mark, things like that- but knowing why didn't leave her any less frustrated at being excluded from some of the most important talks in Fabulacor's history. How long was Mathieu and everyone else going to wave the possibility of having an official role in the politics of Fabulacor in front of her? Why was she being punished for not having a suit or court mark, an issue that was entirely out of her control? Was this all just Fortuna cruelly testing her in preparation for something?

As Victoria's thoughts began to spiral down and out of her control, she went and depressed herself more by reminding herself that An was not with her as she had been in Spades. In all honesty, An's current location was worth celebrating. With the King running a high fever, it had taken a lot of convincing (on the King's part) to make sure Mathieu went through with the planned visit to Hearts. To ease his mind while he was away, Mathieu had entrusted the protection of the King to An. To say that he decision had been controversial would be an understatement. Officially, the controversy was over how young and inexperienced An was and how her temporary appointment was an insult to the senior Ranked Guards. The real reason so many people at the Diamonds Court were uncomfortable was that most of them were convinced (and had always been convinced) of An's involvement in some sort of plot to overthrow the government, and they believed this simply because she came from Tiến lên. Victoria and An were used to the nasty rumors that circulated about all the conspiracies An was supposedly a part of, so they had ignored the controversies and celebrated An's appointment with a cozy fish dinner back at the Diamonds Castle. Now, however, Victoria missed having her friend by her side.

Currently escorting her through the castle was an old Ten of Hearts named Lovino. His default expression was a scowl that had been pressed into his face after decades of practice, though when he addressed her his features typically softened. Lovino had a bit of a reputation for being short tempered with everyone except women, and Victoria was reminded of this when he suddenly shouted at a group down the hall from them.

"Oi, what the hell are you three doing out here? Why aren't you in the Fortress already?"

The figures ahead of them stopped and turned around. Victoria thought her eyes were playing tricks on her when she saw that it was the Queen, Jack, and Ace of Hearts in front of her, and even when she was sure her eyes were correct she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Who was Mathieu meeting with if three-fourths of the main Hearts Court were right in front of her?

"Lovi," The Jack, Feliciano, chirped. He looked just like Lovino if Lovino had spent his whole life smiling instead of scowling.

"Don't 'Lovi' me." As if to emphasize how different his aura was from his twin's, Lovino stopped next to Feliciano with his arms crossed over his chest and his scowl meaner. "You and Kiku should be performing your rituals at the Fortess by now. Can't you complete any damn job on time, Heracles?"

Heracles, the Ace, blinked lazily. It didn't look like he was _intentionally_ pissing off Lovino more, but he was succeeding anyway. "We were getting there. I had just been thinking if-"

Lovino held up a hand to shut Heracles up. "I don't give a damn what you were thinking about, especially if it was about the 'point of performing religious duties' or the 'the symbolic meaning of Fortuna to Fabulacor history' or...or whatever your dumbass mind decided to focus on instead of what you were _supposed_ to be doing."

"If Heracles is being scolded for that, then I am to blame as well," Kiku, the Queen, added softly. "I was entertaining his questions. The conversation had become quite enthralling."

Feliciano laughed like he was fifteen instead of fifty-seven . "And I took a nap!"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm taking Victoria to the Fortress, so I might as well make sure you guys make it without wasting anymore time." He started to stomp away but then immediately stopped when he realized no one was following him. This caused him to groan. "Come on!"

The collective decision was to keep from further irritating Lovino, so the group continued its trek towards the Fortress.

"Oh! That's right! Victoria!" Feliciano looked like a sad puppy when he turned his attention to Victoria. "I'm sorry we didn't say hello to you earlier!"

"No, no, I-!" Victoria tempted Lovino's temper by stopping to give a quick bow of respect to the royals in front of her. "It's fine. I… " She hesitated when she righted herself and started walking again. She had met the Hearts Royalty a few times before, but she remained unsure of how casual their relationship was. When the silence stretched on for too long, she decided to risk any perceived rudeness and ask her question. "Why aren't you meeting with the Ace of Diamonds? Did the meeting finish already?"

If the meeting had finished so soon, Victoria couldn't imagine that the negotiations had gone in Mathieu's favor (if any negotiations had occurred at all).

Kiku shook his head. "Things work a bit differently here in Hearts than what you may be used to. Only the King of Hearts deals with political matters. As the High Dealer, Feliciano is constantly busy being the official voice of Fortuna for the people, and as the Queen of Hearts I have my hands full with being the voice of Fabulacor for Fortuna. Heracles does his best to keep us safe."

"He can't do that if he's always daydreaming," Lovino huffed.

Victoria knew all of that. The political systems of Fabulacor were something she had studied thoroughly. She had just thought that potentially avoiding a full-scale war would be an important enough effort to postpone prayers.

Victoria ignored Lovino's sarcastic comment and looked to Heracles. Accusing the Hearts Royalty of failing their most basic duties to Fabulacor would probably end badly for everyone, so she decided to take the opportunity to try to work through another worry "You're the Ace of Philosophy, right?"

"I am."

"I have a question, but it's okay if you don't have an answer."

The change in Heracles' eyes reminded Victoria of a cat catching the glimpse of a mouse. "Let me have a go."

"If…" The question was still amorphous in her mind, but at the same time it had been tugging away at her since her trip to Spades. No matter what words she chose, she knew they'd be inadequate in getting across the full weight of the question. Still, she wanted to ask Heracles because his profession seemed to make him best suited for providing some sort of answer. "If something happens, but no one who was there really seems to remember it, are records of the event histories or fairy tales?"

Heracles nodded slowly. "It's the histories that are written by those who claim to remember the event that are fairytales."

"Wha-?"

"Now Heracles," Kiku interjected, "I think her question might be drawing from the larger question of whether or not human observation is required for an event's occurrence to be true."

Heracles hummed. "Typically questions of that nature deal more with trees falling, but I suppose in the philosophy of law it would be important to determine the importance of human observation of an event in determining innocence and guilt of a crime. Going through that school of thought, I'd be tempted to conclude that it'd be preferable that no one witness an event so that we can determine the truth through the evidence left behind."

"But that conclusion just proves how important a human's observation is to uncovering the truth of an event. Not only can evidence be lost or purposefully altered, but there are some events that leave behind no physical evidence at all."

"How is that different from the reliability of human accounts?"

Kiku paused. "I... suppose physical evidence and human accounts may be equally reliable and faulty."

"Yes," Heracles said with a confident nod. "That's why we should only trust cats."

Suddenly, Lovino let out a strangled growl from his position at the front of the group. "For Fortuna's sake, shut up! Your dumbass mind can't go two minutes without thinking about stupid cats! This is why your damn philosophizing takes so long and gets nowhere!" When Lovino turned his head, Victoria knew he was addressing her because his face didn't look nearly as angry as she had expected. "Look, the only time you have to worry about anything that happened in the past is if it has an effect on you now. If it don't, then who gives a sh-crap if it really happened or not?"

A lazy smile spread across Heracles' face. "See, now that's exactly what a cat would say. I always love when you join in on our conversations, Lovi-."

"Just get in the damn Fortress, all of you!"

They had stopped in front of a wooden door that Lovino opened as he yelled at them to get in. He looked about to pop, but Victoria only saw Kiku have any hint of shame on his face as they entered the Fortress.

Before Feliciano and Victoria went in the Jack turned to her and spoke over the chanting that was droning from the Fortress. "If you're still looking for answers, you should ask Gilbert! He knows a whole lot of stuff, and he told me that he's been looking for you!"

"Gilbert?"

"Yep!"

"But I-!"

Lovino cleared his throat, ending the conversation. Feliciano walked away, the childlike joy on his face firming up into something more solemn and appropriate for his age as he entered the Fortress.

This left Victoria baffled. Gilbert wanted to see her _now?_ Why now and not any other time in her entire life? The second Joker of Fabulacor had always made such a huge effort to avoid her that she had always assumed he hated her. She had no idea what she possibly could have done to a man she had only seen in passing, and even when she tried to find and ask him he was nowhere to be seen.

Her worries were briefly muted when she finally entered the ancient stone walls of the Fortress. The chanting that had once felt so soft and distant had become an overwhelming force that numbed the brain with its monotony. The dull thrumming against her head was coming from a group that was kneeling before a raised altar at the front of the room. She watched through some sort of fog of incense as Feliciano and Kiku stepped up to the altar and knelt down on the opposite side of it from the original group. From there they started their own prayers, prayers she could not translate before they fell into rhythm with the numbing noise. She felt a peace her frazzled mind had not felt in months.

But then her heart gave an instinctive shudder when a hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder. She expected the hand to belong Lovino or Heracles, but it didn't.

" _There_ you are."

The moment the words were spoken, everything else stopped. The sudden silence shattered the safety of the space.

Victoria feared that she had been frozen along with everything else, and so she felt a pulse of relief when she was able to turn her head. That relief was quickly drowned out when she found a pair of red eyes scowling down at her.

She had never personally met the man standing beside her, but still she knew him from his phantom appearances in the stories she had been told and the shadows she had seen over the years.

"I feel I'm the one who should be saying that to you, Gilbert."

Victoria sounded cool, but on the inside she was terrified. Perhaps because Peter was a perpetual child, or perhaps because they got along like siblings, she hadn't put much thought into how much power a Joker could have. Now, however, she was being confronted with a power much more aggressive than levitation and cute vanishing acts. Worse, this power was being displayed by someone who had done nothing to prove he wasn't hostile towards her.

And, worst of all, they were alone, standing in some break of time and space.

Gilbert quirked his lips into a snarl and released Victoria's shoulder. Relief and fear battled within her over even these small gestures.

"You are so much damn trouble. You go around sticking your nose into things that aren't your business, and now you sass me. Trouble since day one!"

"What-?"

Gilbert silenced her, literally, with a snap of his fingers. Her mouth slammed shut, and no matter how she tugged at her lips they refused to part.

"And always so many questions! What do you even need all of this information for? Don't answer that."

She couldn't.

"Look, I've been keeping an eye on you, and based on some basic patterns I'm guessing you've got a lot of questions that I'd be great at answering. I'm great at a lot of things, so that isn't surprising, but listen good, alright? There is a very small window of time and information that I am willing to give out, especially to _you_. Luckily for you, we're in a place where I have more power than usual, and I'm kind of in a giving mood, so if you ask me the right question, I'll give you a real show. _But_ , you have to ask the _right_ question. I'll give you three chances to ask a question to get my info out of me, but after that this ask-a-Gilbert session is closed." He snapped his fingers, and Victoria's lips opened without a fight. "Go ahead. Ask away."

Gilbert was right about one thing: Victoria did have a lot of questions for him. Why had he been "watching" her? Why did he hold so much anger towards her? How had he frozen everyone? Could Peter do that? Was Peter the same child who had died in the record she had read back in Spades (she was pretty sure she knew this answer, but…)? Was Gilbert involved in the process of Peter becoming a Joker? How? Why?

She had all of these questions, but while trying to figure out which one was "correct" was not only impossible, it also played right into whatever little game Gilbert was trying to tease her with. Where she stood she had very little power, but that did not mean she was powerless. She didn't have to play the game like he expected her to.

"What's the right question," she asked.

Gilbert obviously wasn't frozen in his own time-space pause, but his reaction to her question did seem to unfold in slow motion. At first, a smug smirk was firmly glued to his face. It was clear that he had expected his conditions to be impossible to satisfy, and she wondered if he had already been about to say "wrong" before she had even finished the sentence. However, he didn't say "wrong". In fact, he didn't say anything for a long time as his mind processed what she _had_ said. Realization slowly dropped his smirk into a blank look of shock.

"You…" Compared to the slow process of realization she had seen take place on Gilbert's face, his transition to frustration was lightning quick. Words played on his tongue, but none of them were right, and this agitated him only more. "You ask too many damn questions for your own damn good! It's annoying!"

"But you didn't-"

"I know, I know! You didn't break any rules!" He covered his eyes with his hand, groaned, and then raked his fingers down to his chin. "It was a cheap shot, but if that's how you want to play, _fine_."

Victoria blinked and found herself sitting in a plush red theater chair that had certainly not existed in the space before. She turned around in a panic only to see the walls of the Fortress had extended much farther back to hold hundreds of seats like the one she was sitting in, and each seat held whooping and clapping copies of Gilbert. When she turned back around, she realized she had been given a sort of front row seat to a curtained stage that stood where the altar had been before. Besides her and the Gilbert clones, everyone else had vanished.

"Where did everyone-?"

The Gilbert sitting to her right shushed her. "The show's about to start, kid!"

"Show? What show?"

The lights (wherever those were coming from) went down, making the crowd even more excited. A single spotlight shone on the stage, illuminating yet another Gilbert. He bowed to the applause -soaking it all in for much longer than necessary- and then signaled for silence. The Gilberts hushed their hands, but the air remained energized.

"Hello, and welcome to this special, one-night engagement of _The Massacre of Bleeding Hearts_!"

"D-Did he say 'massacre'?"

"Before the show starts," the Gilbert on stage continued as he directed an annoyed look in Victoria's direction. "I'd like to remind the audience that there is no talking or asking annoying questions during the performance. It's a very special story that took place over 1,600 years ago, so you better respect it!" He stared at her, daring her to speak again. Her fear was increasingly getting replaced by annoyance at his constantly-belittling attitude, and so she matched his derisive gaze with one of her own. She felt a rush of smugness when he was the one to look away first. "Alright, alright, on with the show!"

The stage went dark, and the Gilberts once again launched into wild applause. Victoria clapped along rather thoughtlessly -not that anyone noticed the lack of enthusiasm in her clap. As the grand red curtain began to get pulled back, the clapping died down. Victoria had to admit that she half expected to see a crayon-and-cardboard set, so she was honestly left speechless when the lights came up to reveal what she could only describe as a three-dimensional painting of a warm summer stable. There was a young man on the stage moving around, sweeping, putting odd things away, and even he seemed to teeter on the edge of reality. In some moments he looked to be made of flesh, yet in others the light would reveal a golden brush stroke in his hair or a pink one on his cheeks.

With a rustle, another young man began to sneak onto the stage from the right. His clothes, looser and more delicate than those of the stable hand, immediately set him apart in class from his stage partner, though they both looked to be around Victoria's age, possibly younger. When the newer boy giggled while "hiding" behind a wooden beam, Victoria recognized him immediately as Feliciano. Once she made the connection, she was less shocked at seeing him so young and more shocked that it had taken her even a moment to recognize him at all. 57 or 17, Feliciano's bubbly, childlike aura was the same.

Feliciano continued to "sneak" his way across the stage while the stable hand managed to keep his back to him. With how loud Feliciano was being, there was no doubt the other boy was entertaining him by not turning around. Finally, Feliciano reached the stable hand and wrapped his arms around his waist from behind.

"Hello, your Highness," the boy greeted as he held back a smile.

Feliciano whined playfully. "Ahhhhhhh, Ludwig! How do you always know it's me?"

"I don't know. Instinct, I guess," Ludwig replied, the irony lost only on Feliciano.

Once she had identified Feliciano, Victoria had suspected that the other boy might be a young Ludwig, but his personality had been a little less congruous with the King of Hearts she knew. This Ludwig was...softer than the stone-faced man she had left Mathieu with.

Feliciano laughed and tried to pull his arms back, but Ludwig grabbed his hands before they slipped away. He tenderly inspected the fingers and found bandages covering each one.

"What happened," he asked as he finally turned to face Feliciano. His frown was small and his eyes were concerned.

Feliciano tried laughing, but the sound was more embarrassed than cheerful. "I was helping Kiku bless the written prayers to Fortuna and, well, I, uh, kept giving myself paper cuts. But! But! I didn't bleed on any of the prayers this time!"

He smiled brightly, clearly proud of what sounded like a small accomplishment.

Ludwig sighed and ran his fingers through his slicked-back hair. "I'm sure Lovino already scolded you, but please be more careful, your Highness. Kiku's role is to serve as the voice of Fortuna, not babysit you. Besides, I," his cheeks went pinker, "I don't like seeing you hurt."

Feliciano bounced up to give Ludwig a peck on the cheek. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm doing my best."

"I know. Thank you."

"If you really want to thank me, then call me 'Feli' again, like you used to before I got the mark of the next Queen!"

Sadness pulled on Ludwig's face, but this he pushed away in a fashion Victoria was used to. "I'm calling you that right now so that we don't forget that you still have duties to attend to tonight."

"Ehhhhhh?" Feliciano wilted into Ludwig's chest. "Why do we have to remember that? It's your birthday! I want to celebrate that!"

"My birthday's not until tomorrow."

"Well, it's the night before your birthday! That's worth celebrating, too!"

Ludwig looked displeased. "Don't use me as an excuse to slack on work. Are you supposed to be somewhere right now?"

Feliciano didn't answer.

"Feli!"

Feliciano's head popped up with a huge smile. "Ludwig!"

Ludwig grabbed Feliciano's shoulders, turned him around, and began to push him. "Stop playing around! Once your King is found, they'll likely look to you as an example of what to do, and running away from your duties is a terrible example!"

"But!" Feliciano pulled out of Ludwig's grip and turned to face him. "I…!" There had been some fire in his movements when he first turned, but this quickly faded away. "That's exactly why tonight is so important. This could be the night _you_ get the mark of the King of Hearts."

"That...well…"

"It has to be tonight!" The fire flickered back, fueled by desperation in Feliciano's painted brown eyes. "I don't want anyone else to be my King!"

Ludwig dropped his eyes. "Feli, you know I can't guarantee-"

"Everyone keeps saying that, but it's not true! In other kingdoms it might be different, but in Hearts the King and Queen are supposed to love each other, and I love _you_ , Ludwig! I love you more than anyone else! So Fortuna has to pick you because she knows that I-"

"Feli." Ludwig cut the distance between them with a single step forward. He looked down at Feliciano, who had worked himself up into tears. Ludwig tenderly wiped them away before they could fall. "It will be alright. No matter what Fortuna decides for the Kingdom, I will always be by your side."

"Ludwig…"

Silence fell as they got lost in the words of the moment. Then they fell into a kiss so gentle it made your heart ache for something like it. They smiled. A gentle breeze drifted through the scene, curling the paint strokes of their clothes and hair. Was Victoria watching a play or a dream?

"Don't be sad, Feli! If we have to, we can recruit my little bro as a Ranked Guard without a problem!"

Or maybe she was watching a nightmare.

The voice that shattered the scene belonged to none other than Gilbert. He popped up from behind the stables, a cheeky grin on his face. The painting-style made him no younger or older than the version of him Victoria had seen glimpses of since she was small. She hadn't expected him to be in the play (especially in such a private scene), but she wasn't very surprised to see his age unchanged. In fact, it confirmed that the Jokers she knew in the present were frozen relics of the past.

"G-Gilbert! How long have you been there," Ludwig flushed a deep red as he asked this.

"Long enough to see you being so cruel to little Feli here!" Gilbert walked to Feliciano's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look at this face, Ludwig. How are you saying 'no' to it? Just let him spend the night before your birthday with you!"

"Yeah, yeah! Gilbert's right!"

Ludwig let out a long sigh as he shook his head and stepped away from the now-pitifully-pouting pair. "I don't know why I ever bother trying to speak sense at this castle. I hope I do become King just so I can save anyone else from having to-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gilbert lept off of Feliciano and swung his arm around Ludwig's neck. "Let's not say anything you'll regret! Your older brother taught you better than that!"

"...Right." Ludwig lifted his brother's arm off of him. "Well, maybe without a King you two don't feel pressed to work, but I still have a lot to do tonight, so please go."

Both Feliciano and Gilbert whined, but Ludwig did not budge.

"Okaaaaaaay." Feliciano trudged over to Ludwig, his head low. "If you won't let me see you later tonight, then I order you to see me first thing tomorrow morning!"

Ludwig shook his head again, but this time there was a small smile on his lips. "You don't have to waste an order on that. I promise I'll see you before anyone else tomorrow."

This sprung Feliciano right back to life. "Really? Yay!" He jumped to peck Ludwig's cheek before running away, calling back, "I love you, Ludwig," between giggles.

"You're so lucky, little bro," Gilbert lamented, wiping away a fake tear.

"Gilbert, _please_."

Gilbert's laugh sounded more like a wheezed hiss as he smacked Ludwig's back before leaving the opposite way Feliciano had gone. The lights followed Gilbert out, plunging the theater into darkness.

The scream that ripped through the air jolted Victoria out of her seat. In the darkness a single candle flickered to life, revealing Gilbert's panicked face in chiaroscuro.

"Ludwig?"

By the quick movement of the candle, Victoria assumed Gilbert started running, but it was so dark that she couldn't see his legs or where he was going. All that was visible was the panicked look on Gilbert's face.

"Ludwig!"

He stopped, and the golden strokes of the candle radiated out to illuminate a wide-eyed and panting Ludwig sitting up in bed. Gilbert set the candle down and grabbed his brother's arms.

"Ludwig. Ludwig, are you alright?"

Ludwig turned his wide eyes toward Gilbert. In this moment, the cornflower blue of his eyes had become electric, unnatural. Before Gilbert (or Victoria, for that matter) could investigate the off-colouring, Ludwig curled in on himself and held his hands to his head.

"Ludwig," Gilbert shouted again. Despite everything Gilbert had done (and was doing) to her, Victoria respected what seemed to be a rare moment of desperation and concern from him.

"It...hurts…" Ludwig choked out.

"What? What hurts?"

"My shoulders...my head…"

"Little bro, sit up and let me see your back."

Ludwig hesitated before slowly unfurling his body to a ramrod straight position. In the dramatic lighting of the candle, Gilbert lifted up the back of his brother's shirt to reveal a prominent red "K" at the base of Ludwig's neck flanked on either side by red wings that spanned the whole of both his shoulder blades.

"Ha, it's just like we've been tellin' you, bro! You're the destined King of Hearts!"

Gilbert's attempt at lightening the mood was not acknowledged by Ludwig. In fact, both Gilbert and Victoria noticed his mind seemed to be somewhere else entirely.

"Little bro…?"

Gilbert was dropping the shirt when Ludwig shouted and nearly recoiled off the bed from his brother. Gilbert tried to reach out and grab him, but his intentions brought about the opposite effect and Ludwig tumbled to the floor.

"What is-"

"Gilbert, _don't_!" The force of Ludwig's shout froze Gilbert in place. "Don't…" Slowly, painfully slowly, he pushed himself up to his feet. "My thoughts…"

"Your...thoughts…?"

"They're so…. _loud_ …They hurt. I'm _scared_."

Gilbert stood, conflicted. He must have wanted to help his brother so badly, but after being pushed away he looked lost for what to do next.

"What….what can I do?" The question was so soft, so vulnerable, that Victoria had a hard time believing it really came from Gilbert. But it did come from him and it did leave Victoria anxious in the silence before Ludwig's reply.

"I want you here, but...but you need to go."

"If-"

The sadness revealed in Ludwig's eyes disarmed Gilbert.

" _Please."_

Gilbert's mouth flapped for a counterargument, but no amount of words could match the persuasion of Ludwig's one desperate "please". So he turned, frustrated, and once again (though a bit more literally this time) took the light of the scene with him.

Gilbert was only gone from the stage for a moment, but when he returned the scene had completely changed. He was barging into what looked to be a private study occupied by a lone man hunched over a desk writing with the same professionalism Victoria was used to seeing in her Uncle Vash. Without hesitation Gilbert stormed right to the desk and dropped a stack of books with a solid thud. Startled, the man turned to face Gilbert and the audience. Aside from his long silver hair, his resemblance to Ludwig shocked and confused Victoria. Gilbert still hadn't aged, but had the play already skipped ahead to Ludwig's old years?

"Oi, old man!"

The "old man" eyed Gilbert and the books with something akin to exasperation. "I see you finally picked up some of the books I have been assigning you since the day you first got your Ace mark."

"I'm not here for you to nag me! Why didn't you tell me about what's been happening to the Kings of Hearts?!"

His eyes narrowed. "I _did_. I told you to read these Ace journals years-"

"But how could you not _**tell**_ me?! How does everyone not know already?! It's a pretty big fucking deal that Kings are offing thems-"

"Gilbert!" The old man shot from his chair and slammed his hands down on his desk. "Keep your voice down!" He paused, took a deep breath, and sighed it out evenly. "The curse of the Suicide King is a very closely guarded secret. The only ones who know about it are those who need to know, like us Aces."

"Oh? What about Queens and Jacks? Are they included on that need to know list? What about _Kings_? Do they even get told?"

"The curse does not take the life of every King, so-"

Gilbert picked up one of the journals and pushed it into the old man's face. "Not a _single_ King in these books dies of old age, either, pops. If they don't get stabbed or poisoned by someone else, they commit suicide before they're fifty! Fifty! Why hasn't anyone done something about this shit?!"

The old man snatched the journal from Gilbert and presented it back to him. "You have read these, haven't you? We _have_ tried. We have tried everything! Nothing works. Once the whispers start, a King is lucky to see the next year. That is how it has been since Spades split off from Hearts almost four-hundred years ago, and that is how it will be for another four-hundred years and likely another four-hundred after that."

Gilbert looked like the wind had been snatched from his lungs. He tried taking his wind back with a soft, "No…", but he continued to silently choke until he screamed "NO!" again with all the force he could gather. He knocked all of the journals from the desk, still screaming, "I won't allow this to happen! Not to Ludwig!"

The old man, bending to pick up the journals he had failed to catch, froze. "L...Ludwig got the King mark last night?"

"Don't act surprised about this, old man! We've all known that he would get it, so the fact that you've been keeping all of this from me…!" He growled in frustration. "I've been reading these all night looking for answers, but the picture gets worse and worse! Did you notice before throwing these at me that the damn suicides have been happening sooner and sooner? Well, guess fucking what, Gramps? Ludwig didn't hear any whispers last night! He jumped right into the second-to-last fucking phase of this fucking thing! He's going to fucking _die_! Fuck, maybe before his... _fuck_!"

Gilbert paced away frantically and the old man watched, silent.

"My baby brother is going to fucking die, and you want me to just sit around and do nothing about it! Fuck, are you really telling me that you're going to watch your grandson go insane and then kill himself?!"

"Gilbert, I-"

Gilbert turned sharply on his heels and screamed, "What?!"

His grandfather stood and steeled himself. "There is nothing we can do. Believe me, you will just drive yourself insane chasing answers that do not exist. I...I am shocked that he is so close to the final stage already, but-"

"But? _But?!_ How can you even say that right now?! There's no time for buts!" Gilbert hurriedly gathered all of the journals he had brought with him, huffing and growling. "There's not time for _this_! I shouldn't have come to you for help after you didn't even tell me about this shit. Go ahead, watch helplessly while I save Ludwig from whatever the fuck this damn curse is."

"Gilbert."

Gilbert was already to the door of the study when his grandfather softly called his name. He stopped his hurried exit, but he didn't turn around or say a word. The play between light and shadow in this scene was not as stark as the one before it, but there was no missing the contrast between the light that bathed Gilbert's grandfather and the dark paint strokes that shrouded Gilbert himself.

"I thought we would have more time."

"Yeah? Well we don't. And neither does Ludwig."

The shadows that played on Gilbert's side of the stage spread to the grandfather's and soon nothing could be seen.

When light returned, Gilbert was alone on a stone balcony with a drink in one hand and his head in the other. Music and laughter drifted into the scene from somewhere beyond the light of the party behind him, heightening the exhaustion that tugged at his face and body. He didn't move when a young Kiku entered the scene or when he stood on the balcony beside him.

"I am used to seeing you at the center of parties, not on the outskirts where I like to hide," said Kiku.

Gilbert barked a humorless laugh. "Guess I'm just not in the mood for celebrating right now."

"Even though it is a celebration of your brother's King mark?"

Gilbert tightened the grip on his drink, but he didn't say anything.

"Then that confirms my suspicion."

"Suspicion?"

Kiku nodded, taking a small sip of his own drink. "Yes. I have suspected for a while that you are aware of Ludwig's… circumstances."

Gilbert finally turned his head toward Kiku. "And how do you know?"

"Fortuna told me."

"Yeah?" Gilbert snorted. "She tell you how to stop the thing, or she just stop by to make the world a little darker?"

"She…"

Kiku hesitated, causing Gilbert to eye him with suspicion. As the silence dragged on, Gilbert stood to his full height and to loom over Kiku.

"Kiku, if she told you anything, any-fucking-thing, you _have_ to tell me. I will do anything to save Ludwig."

"I had a feeling you would say that, but-"

"Kiku, if you've been hiding something from me that I-"

"No, no! Gilbert, I…" He took a step back from Gilbert to end the looming threat. "Fortuna told me about the curse the night Ludwig got the mark, but she did not give me much more information until last night. She told me that she is tired of the curses in Fabulacor, and that your dedication to ending Ludwig's has inspired her, in a way."

Gilbert placed his drink on the balcony to free his hands so that he could grab Kiku by his biceps. "What did she say? How can I end the curse before it's too late?"

"You...you would have to give up your Ace mark."

"That's it?"

"No, ah…" Kiku fidgeted. He was clearly uncomfortable and looked to be trying to escape, but Gilbert wouldn't back down with his grip or questions. "Gilbert, you, you would have to take on the curse yourself, which would mean-"

"I'll do it."

Kiku stared up at Gilbert with wide eyes. "Wh-What? Are you...are you sure?"

Gilbert's face softened into a smile as he let go of Kiku and moved to stand next to his drink. "Come on, Kiku. You knew that'd be my answer as soon as you brought it up. That's why you were so nervous, right? But don't worry about me, a'right? The Kingdom will be just fine without me, but it needs Ludwig."

"Gilbert-"

"And don't tell Feliciano about any of this. He doesn't need to know."

"Need to know what?"

Surprised (and perhaps a little guilty), both Gilbert and Kiku whipped around to face a lost Feliciano. Feliciano looked between the two of them, silently begging for answers, but in the end Gilbert and Kiku dropped their eyes and said nothing. Something indescribable crossed Feliciano's face before a shaky smile spread across his lips.

"You...you two have noticed it too, right?" Feliciano waited for confirmation, and got nothing. "Ludwig...he isn't the same. Something's wrong! He was never a very touchy person in public, but whenever it was just us he never minded hugs and kisses. But now… now he won't even let me near him! I thought at first it was just stress, because I know I cried and cried when I first found my Queen mark, but it's more than that." His smile fell entirely and desperation took over. "Ludwig's suffering, but he won't tell me what's wrong! So if you two know what's happening, you have to tell me, too!"

With sad eyes Kiku took a step forward. "Feli-"

"Don't look at me like that and say my name like I'm a child," Feliciano cried. "I'm an airhead, and a lot of things don't make sense to me, but there is one thing that I will always understand, and that's Ludwig! It hurts me to see Ludwig this way, so please tell me what's going on and what I can do to fix this! Ludwig has the most beautiful smile in the whole wide world, and I'll do anything to see it again!"

Feliciano stared them both down until the tears he had been fighting soaked his cheeks. Gilbert slowly walked forward then pulled him into a hug Feliciano seemed grateful to collapse into. Kiku moved to stand beside them awkwardly, eventually placing a comforting hand on Feliciano's back.

"Feli," Gilbert said softly after giving Feliciano some time to cry. "Ludwig is… well, he's in trouble."

Feliciano's head shot up from Gilbert's chest. "With who?!"

"No, not, um, not like _that_ …it's not that kind of trouble, it's..."

"Being the King of Hearts has a serious price that is totally outside of Ludwig's control," Kiku explained. "His life is in danger."

"Immediate danger," Gilbert emphasized.

"But Fortuna is offering us a way to save him."

"I'll help." Feliciano used his sleeve to clumsily dry his face. "I'll do anything! You can't leave me out of this! A-And we can't leave Ludwig out, either! He needs to know that there's hope, that whatever's happening has an end! I'll go get him-"

"Feli." This time when Gilbert said the name, his voice was strained. "Ludwig _can't_ know."

"Why? I tell Ludwig everything!"

Gilbert looked pained as he spoke. "If we tell him about this, he won't let us do what we need to do to help him."

As Victoria had watched the scene unfold, dread dropped into her stomach like a stone. She had imagined similar conversations between her parents and her grandmothers and even entire Kingdoms whenever she tried to piece together why she had been left behind in Diamonds without consent or explanation. When Gilbert spoke his last line it poked at a tender spot in her core, and under her breath she muttered a jaded, " _Selfish_."

The scene on stage froze instantly. Gilbert, as if awoken from a trance, turned his head toward Victoria slowly, unnaturally.

"What was that?"

Victoria could have backed down. In fact, she was very aware that the most reasonable thing to do would be to back down and let the show continue, but she didn't. Instead she crossed her legs and leveled an agitated look at Gilbert.

"You're being selfish in this scene."

" _Excuse_ me?" Gilbert stepped away from his frozen cast members and towards Victoria. As he approached the edge of the stage, the brush strokes began to curl off of him like wood shavings, all vanishing into the air before hitting the floor. "You think saving my brother was _selfish_?"

"No, saving him isn't the problem. Trying to take on all of the burden yourself to become a martyr is selfish."

Gilbert hopped down from the stage, seething. Victoria stood from her seat defiantly, shaking off the Gilberts to her left and right that tried to grab her without any effort. The hundreds of Gilbert copies behind her combined didn't scare her as much as the single Gilbert gunning for her, yet she still didn't back down to him. Rather, she braced herself for the worst.

"You little-! You think it was easy to make all of those choices?!"

"I think it was easier to die than to live."

"Of course it was easier to die than to live in a world without my little brother!"

"And you didn't think it would be hard for Ludwig to live in a world without you?!" Victoria closed the remaining distance between her and the real Gilbert as frustration buried her fear. "You don't think he loved his big brother and would have wanted to talk to you before you made a decision that would change his life forever?! Just because you were family didn't mean you had the right to decide what was and wasn't best for him!"

"I was saving his life!"

"Without his permission!"

"Wha- his _permission_?! Look, kid, I'm giving you to the count of three to shut the _fuck_ up because you have no idea what you're blabbing about!"

"If what I've been saying wasn't true, you wouldn't be getting so angry about it! Did you ever, _ever_ , talk to Ludwig about all of this?"

"No!"

"Then you're the one who doesn't understand! You've never been the one left behind, so you'll never understand! You and Peter are exactly the same! You're both so selfish! Don't you see? _Sacrificing yourself doesn't make you a hero!_ "

" _Enough!"_

Gilbert's shout crumbled the hundreds of plush red seats and Gilbert clones behind Victoria and reminded her that she had just ignited the most intense argument of her life with someone whose power far outstripped hers.

"You are the worst thorn in my side I have ever had to deal with! I don't even know why I expected anything good to come from the granddaughter of that damn Natalya! If it weren't for Lili, I'd-!"

He raised his fist, raw power discharging from it in red sparks. Eyes wide in terror, Victoria stepped back and waited with her heart in her throat to see what Gilbert would do. But after the tensest moments of Victoria's life, he lowered his fist and turned back to the stage.

"Storytime is over, kid." He snapped his fingers, paused, and then snapped again. "What the-?" He snapped over and over again, but nothing about the room changed. "Seriously, what the fuck?! I am not in the mood for this right now!" The hundredth time he snapped the lights on the stage went out, causing Gilbert to growl with barely-contained rage, " _Fuck!_ "

Victoria slowly continued her backwards trek, hoping to eventually slip away and find some sort of exit from this nightmare. Just as she was about to turn and bolt, the lights came back up on the stage, revealing a new scene. A young Feliciano and Kiku stood in a Fortress less marred by time and appeared to have their attention focused on an empty space.

"This is it, Gilbert," said Kiku. "Are you ready?"

"Wha- _no_!" Gilbert, still on the floor in front of the stage, now sounded absolutely panicked. "No, no, no, no, _no_! Not this! Any memory but this one!" He snapped and snapped, but nothing happened. "Stop! _Please!_ "

Victoria watched as Gilbert desperately jumped back onto the stage and was immediately refitted in a cover of paint strokes. His body spasmed violently to the left and right, appearing to fight the magic that was bringing all the memories to life. But the fight was fruitless, and his body was dragged to the spot Feliciano and Kiku were looking at. Once in his spot, Gilbert relaxed into the tension of the scene and things continued.

"Just do what you got to do."

Kiku nodded and grabbed Feliciano's left hand with his right. "In exchange for the marks on your skin that make you the Ace of Hearts in addition to all chances of you becoming a member of the Hearts Court in any future Hand do you, Gilbert Beilschmidt, agree to become the vessel that will hold and bring an end to the curse on the Hearts Kingdom?"

With his back straight and his face blank, Gilbert spoke a clear and strong, "I do."

Kiku and Feliciano raised their connected hands and their respective Court marks glowed a soft pink. In response, the Spades mark on Gilbert's arm and the Ace mark over his heart ignited a fiery red and lifted off his skin, colliding in the air and swirling until the red turned an inky black. The spinning black mass drifted back to where Gilbert's heart and entered his chest.

In an instant Victoria herself felt voices clawing at the back of her mind demanding not only entrance, but something else that was lost in this hiss of the whispers. Victoria grabbed her head as Gilbert did the same.

The voices, unimpeded by her hand, grew louder, clearer.

 _Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill-_

The word was repeated infinitely by infinite voices and brought Gilbert to his knees.

"Guys," he gasped out, "I think… we were… wrong…"

On the stage, sound started to become color, and each spoken "kill" became a brush of black on the set. Gilbert himself started to abstract, his body getting reduced to its simplest shapes and colors in unpredictable spurts before solidifying back to the realism the rest of the play had been painted in.

"What?" Because Kiku wasn't shouting, Victoria barely heard his question over the thundering voices.

 _Ki͝l̸l̸,͟ ki̸ll̵,͟ ̡k̷i̸l͢l̕,͢ kil͞l, ki͡ll,͟ ͏ki҉ll, k̛i̢l͡ĺ,͏ ̴ki̕ll̢, ̵ki͡ll̕, ki͢ll̀, ki͘lļ, k̨ìl͞l̀,̸ ͝k͘ill, ͞ki̵ll̢, k͠ill̨,̛ k͞il̡l̛, k͝i̵l̷l͢,̵ k̷ill̷,͠ kil̡l,̕ ki̧ll͜, k͝il̶l, kìl̵l,͠ ̴ķi̷l̷ļ,̵ ̢kill̨,̕ ki͏l̛l, k̷ill͘, ͡k͞ill͢,̡ ̧kíll͘, ̢ki̷l̶l͘,̸ k͢il̷l҉, k̵i͠ll, ki̧ll̀, ̴k͞i̴ll, k̡i͡l͜l̀, ͜kill̛, k̸ill,̀ k̡ill͟,̕ ki͘ļl, kill,́ ́kill͡,̷ ķill,̶ ̢kil̕l-_

"It's… It's not a… suicide curse…"

 _Ki̴͏l̢҉l̴̛,̴͢ k̴҉i̴͠l̡ĺ͜, ͜kį̀͟l͟l,̀̕ ̕͞͝ḱ͢i̧̛l̴̕͠l̴̨͘,͏̧ k͢͞i͜l͏l͏҉, ̢͘k̀i̡ļ͞l̷,̶̧ k̶í̛ll,̷ ͜͠͝k̀̕͡i͡l͘͝l͠͡,̴̢ k̡͟i̧l̨l̢̕͢,̢́̕ ̴ki̴҉l̴̨l͟͟,̨̢͢ ̴́k͏͏i͢ll̕͟,̵ ̸́͏k̷͢i̛l̨͟͏l̴͢,́͞ ̴́͢k̶̨̀i͘ll̀͘,͠ ̡ķi̛ļ́̀l̡͠,̵͡ ҉k̛il̶̀͡l͏, ̶̛k̷̀i̡͘ĺl,̷̷ ̷͜ḱí͞l̛l̢̀͞,͏ ͠͞k̶i͞l͜͜l,͞ ̷̧̡ḱi̧l̸̨l, ̸͟k͟i̶͘lļ̕͝, ͘k̵il͏l,͟ ͏ki̶͜l͠l̨, ̷ki̶ļ̛͘ļ̕,̢ ķ́͟iļ͢l̨,͞ k̷̡̛il̀l̨͜͏,̴͜͏ k̶̢̛i̴҉l͢҉l, k̶͢i̵l̸̶l͟͏,̴̕ k̛il̷͠l̷̵͜,̷ ͞҉k̶̷il͟͝l̵, ki̷l̷̡l̢҉,̴̢ ̵͞͠k̶̀͟íll,͟͟ k̵̴i̸l̨͡l̢,͟͜ ̧̀́k̴į͡l̵͜l̨̛,̛ k̸̀i̷͢l̷l,̧ ̢͟͠k̕i̷̛l̀͜͞l̨̢,̷́͜ ̢k͞i̷̸͞l̸̨l͏́,̢ ̴ki̧͘ĺ̴͟l҉, ̨̛k͏i҉̡͡l̵̵͘l,͜͞ ̵k̨ill,̨͟ ̕͠k̨҉i̷̡l̕l̡̨҉,҉̛ ̛̕͝k̀͢iĺ̛͡l̸,̀͠ ̵͘͘ki̛l̨̨l̶̢͠,̢̕ ͟k̨i҉̷l̵l̷̕,͢ k̶̷i̧͞l̵̡l̸͢͜, ̷͝͞k̢i̢͠ll̀́,́ k͟͡iĺ̢͠l̢͡,̛͡ ķi̸l̡l,̵ kil͜͞l,̴̛ k̶҉i̶ļ͢l̸̴,̨ k̴͜͜i̷l̴l,̧ ̵k͟i̶͜ļ̛̕l,̵̨ k̡i͠l̷̕͠l҉,̢ ̶k͢i̵̕l̡͡l̨,͜͞ ͏k̕il͘͡l͡,̧ ͞k̴͏į̵͞l̀͢l͢, ̸k̴i͟l̵̡l͏͠͡,͠ ͏͡k͝͠il̀̕͠l̵,͏̡ ͘͟k҉̵͠i̡͝l͏l,̵͞҉ ̶̧k̸̸ill͘͞,̢ ̴k̡̢iļ̛l͏,̀͡ ̢k͜i͝ll̸̢̀,̀̕ ̷ki͠͏͘l͞l̸̡̕,̸ ̧k̷̢̀i̢͡ll̸͠,͢͡ k̵i̢ĺ̨l̵͘,̷͟ ̨͏̕k͢il̢l͜,́͢ k̡͡í̴l͜l͏, ̸̶k̛i͘̕͜l͢͏̀l, ḱi̴̸l̨҉l̀,͞҉ k̴҉͞i҉̢l͜l̀̀,̵ ̸k͢͡i҉͟ll͜,̡́ ҉͟ki̕l̸l҉͜͢,́͡ ̷k̴̨͝il҉̡l̢,̵ ̡͘ki͜҉l̷̡l͏̴͘,̴͢ ̵̀k͢į̕l̶͞͝l̛͡,̵͡ ́k̛i͢ll̢,̷͜ ̧͝͞k̨͞i̴l̸̷͘l̡̛,̵̛ kį̀l҉̨͘l̛,̶ ̸̷͏ki̧̛l̛ĺ,҉ kil̷l̢,̨͜ k̀i͝l̕͘l,̢ ̸͜k̕ì͜͡l͏l҉,͡ ͝͝ki̴̴l̨͟l͝҉,̸͘͠ k̷̶i͘l̶͢l̸͏,̡͝ ̨͘͏k͝͡ill͘͝-̸_

Feliciano and Kiku's hands glowed again, and while Kiku looked confused, Feliciano looked determined. The Q on Feliciano's left hand and the J on Kiku's right lifted from their hands and switched to settle on the opposite person's opposite hand. Kiku looked to be saying something, but it was impossible to make out. Feliciano just looked back at him with a sad smile before pushing him away from Gilbert.

Gilbert, meanwhile, was a spasming wreck on the outskirts of reality. His struggle to retain his true physical form was spreading to the scenery around him, which also abstracted to new, impossible shapes. A chair became a heap of rectangles, then a thousand chairs, then a chair repeated into the shape of a mandala, and so on.

 _K̴̛͞i̧҉l̵͟l̷̀͝҉,̶ ͘͞k̡͡i͢͡l̢͜͞l̕͘,͢͢ ̷͞͠ķ͟҉̸́ì͞l̶̛҉͡l̛̕,̸͞͏͡҉ ̵̡͞k͟͜͟i̶͠͝͞҉l̸͡͞͝͠l̢͞,̶́̕͜͢ ̡͏͞k̴͢͢͠į́͘̕͡l̨̧̨̛l̨̢͘͝,͠͝ ̡̛̕҉̕k̶̷̀͟į̶̢͢͞l̡̛l̀͠,̨̢͝͠ ̸̷͟k҉̡i̸̕l̵҉̵̷͠l̶̀,̸̨̨̢ ̨̡̀k̷̷͘͠͝i̡̡͘͜͠l͡͏l̶͡͏̧̕,̷̸̢ ̴͘k҉̢̛̛͠i̵l̵҉̕͏̸l̸̢̧̛̛,̶͞ ̸̢k͏͢҉͟i҉̢̀͝l̨̀͞ļ͘͠,͟͞ ͝͏̵k̴̴̀i̴͝҉͜l̸̡̀҉̡ĺ̸̴͘,͡͞ ̷̧k̀͘͜͠͡ì̶̸̧͡l͘͘ļ́͘̕,̵̵̷ ͢͢k͏̸̀i̛̕͝l̸̶͘͘͠ĺ͡,̷̧͠ ̢̀͝k̨͘i̵͘͘l̡͘͠l̷̢̨͘,̸̨͞͝ ͘͡k̶̢̀͠͞ì̷́͢l̡͢l̷̨͡͝,̶̡̕ ̷̧̀͢͡k̕į҉̧̕ĺ͏͘͟l҉҉̸̀,̸͟͝ ̢͘k̨͟҉̀̕i̸̶̧͜͟l҉҉l̨̧̀̕,̨̡ ͘͞͏̧k̸̢̀i̸͠͠l̴̨͠l̴͢͏,̷͘͡ ̧̢k͢͏̷̢̧i͘͢͏̴ĺ̡͘͢͡l͢͝,̡҉̸̕ ̨͢k͏͏̷̴̷i͏̵̛l̸̷̢̡͡l҉̴͢,̷̡̢ ̀͠͠҉k̡̨̀i͏̨́l̡͏̷l̀̕,͘͡͏́ ̛͠͞͏͞k̡̨̛̕͜i̴̶l̸̴̷̀l̴̨̛͟,̕͡͞͡ ͘̕k̷̛͟į̛͘͜͝l̸̡̧͢l͢͡,҉̡ ̕͢͏ḱ͏i̧͟ĺ̵̷̛͝l̸̶̨͞,̷̴̕ ́҉̛k͘͘͝ì̛́̕̕ĺ̵l̴͘͢,̧̨ ̢̕͟͞k̴̡į͘͟͟l̵̴͟͟l̷͠,͏̨̛́͠ ̷͘͜͝ḱ̢̧͢͠į̴̧͡l̵̢͟l̸̶̛͡͞,̷̀͘ ̴͝҉̛k͜i̸̸̸̕ļ͜͝ĺ̡͏,̴̀͟͜ ̸̡͝ḱ́͜͜i̶̶̢̧͟l̸͡l̴,͏̨̡͠ ̀͡҉̛k̷̡̀i̴̶͘͠l̸͞͝͡͡l̸͝͞҉͏,̷̧͏̸̨ ̧͡k̶̸̢ì̸̡͢͢l҉̡͡l̀͘͢͟,̧́̕͢ ̵̵̴̀ḱ͡҉̧͘i̵͡͝l͝҉͞l͞͞,̵͠ ̷̨̛͟ķ͢͏i̴̛l̷͠l̵̡̡̨,̡͜͡͡ ̴̨̕͘͢k̶̡i͞͏͠͠l̢̀͜͢͢l̶̷͜͡͡,̢̡ ͢҉͜k̢͝ì̡̧l҉̵̸́͏l̴̕҉͟,͠ ̴̧̀͏k̸̶̷̀í̴̧ļ̴͞l̛͏,̨͝ ̨̨͠k̵̕҉̴͏i̴͘͢l̴̶̢̧͡l̸̀,̨̀̕͠ ̧̨́k̷̵̡̡i͘͝l҉̨́l̷͢͜͠,̀҉̨̕ ̷̸͘̕͠k̴͢͏̷į̶͞͏l̶͝͏̢l̵͡,҉̶ ̷̴̶͢͠k̡͟ì̴̷̢̕l͏͢͝͝͝ļ̷̧̀͘,̡̀́͢͡ ̸̕k͟͠͝i͘͜͟l̛̀͞͏l҉̷͢͟͜,̕͏̢͢ ̴̴͡k̨͝҉̀i̧̡̛l̵̡͟͞l͜͟,́̀͟͡ ̀́k̢̀͜í̷̧̡͢l̛͜l̴̵̡,̀͞ ̷̢k̶͏̵i̕͞͞ļ̷l̷͝,̢͟͟ ͏͏͏̀k҉́͠͠í͘͜͢l̴̴͜l̨̨̛,̵̷̸̛͞ ̀͢k̸̴̢͞͏i̵̕͠͡҉l͟͟l̢̛͏̢,̸̸ ̡͘͡͠k̛̀̀͘͝i̛͜l͟͝͠l̷̸̨̀͘,̡҉ ̴͝͞k͟͟i̴̴̕l̴͟͝͝l̵̢̡̕,̛͝͠͏ ̸̨̀k̵͝͞i͡l̴̴͞͠l̛͟,҉̶͜ ̷̢͏k̸̵͠͝į͘͡l̕҉̶̕͟l͟҉̴͢,̛̀ ̷̛́͘k͜͏̷̢i̢̛͜͜͢l̡͜͞͞͏ĺ̸̢͜͏,̷̵̵͞͠ ̵̧̧͘k͏͞͏i̵̵̢̢l̷̴̴̢l̨͢,̵̵̧̛͞ ̛͘ķ̴̴̡̀ì̡̕͠͝ļ͜͏l̴̵͜͝,̨͝ ̴̴̶̛͢k͞i͏̵͟͜l̵̶̶̨l̷͢,̵̢͠͠ ̷̵̷̡ḱ̸҉̛͟i͞҉̸l͟͠l͢͏,̴̀́̕͡ ̶͢͝k͢͟͜͞í̡͠͡͏ĺ͘͝͡͞l̀͏,̸̕ ͟͏k̀̕͜͟҉i̷͝ļ̴̷̡͡l̕͢͠,̸̸͜ ̵́̀͠͝k̶͡i̶͘͟͠͝l̸̕̕͞l͏̶͟͞͏,̶͠ ̴̷̡́ķ̡̨̨̕i̸̕l̴̛̕͏l̸,̢̡ ͜͞ķ̛í͜l̵͜l̴,̶́̀͡͠ ҉̀͝k҉̸͘̕͟i͞͡l̢͞͠͞͞ĺ͞,̢̛͟ ̷͢ķ̛́͝i̡̨̡͡l̴̛͏l̶̢̕,̀͢͝ ̸̴̡́͞k҉̕i̷͏͏͝l̡̛l̀҉,̴̸͞ ̷̷k̢̛̛̕͜i̛͘͜l͟͡l̵̴,̡̢̡͟ ͏̵̷͏k͏͟͝i̴̧l̢l҉̕͢͜,̷̵̛ ̷͠͠ķ̨͘͜i̷͜͞l̕͘͏l͞͝,̡͝ ̴̨̛̀k̶̴̴͞i҉̵̧ĺ̸̴̸l̵̷,̶͟͞͡ ̵̶͝ķ̕͢í̶͜ļ̶͞͡ĺ̡͟,҉̧̕ ̴̶̴́̀k̛͢͠i̵̢̢̨̨l̨l̵͡͏,͟͟ ̧͏͝k̶̴̨i̴̛͠͡l̛͘͝l̨҉̧̀͠,̵͞͡ ̸̨̕͢͞k̵̢͘i̵͘͞͏͏l̸͢͝ļ̢́͞,̵̕͟͝͞ ̸̧̛͘ḱ̡̡͝i̸̢l҉͜ļ͜,̕͢͢ ̶͞ḱ̴̢̢̀ì̷͜͠l̴͢l҉̵̵̀̀,̶̛͢͡ ̨́͜͡k̡̀i̴̵҉̧l͟͟͡l̷͘,̴̵͢͟ ̢̢̕k̸̕͜͡i͝͡͞ļ́l̷͞,҉̴̢͠ ̧̡͘ḱ͟͞͞i̷҉͟l̶͜͢͝҉l͢,̴̕͝҉ ̡̢͟͏́k̵̢͝͠ì̸͜͡l̶̶̢l̸̸̨̕͠,̷̷ ̡͘ķ̶̸ìl̡l͟͢͡͏,͏̧͏ ̸̨͢͝͠k̶̷̨̛í͠l̵̀l̡͜͠,̴͞ ̵̧k̢͠i̸҉͢ļ̵̶͞ļ̸,̴͜ ̢̕k҉̀i̴҉̶̨̛l͢͡͡l҉̶̧͜҉,̴́͢҉̕ ̷̨҉̸̕k̸̡̧i̵̡͢l̨͝l̡͟͠͏̶,̸̸̢̧ ̴̛͟͡k͏̢͠í̸͘̕͜l҉̨͝l͏̧̧,̨͟͞ ̶̢̢͠k̷̕i̕͏̷̛͝l̸l҉̧̧͠,̷̨͡ ̨̧͏̧͠k̴̛̕͜į̛́ļ̸̴́́l̵̷̨̢̕,͟ ̵̡k̴̛i̧̧͝͠͡l̸͟͟l̷̨͘҉,͏͝͝ ̢̡͜͞͞ķ̕͟i̧̡͡l̛͢͢͝l̴̛͘,̡͢͏͝ ̵̨͘͟҉k̸̀͟͜͝i͡͡͞l̡͡l̀͞,̧́͠ ̧́͠͠k̵̡̕͘͝į̶͢l̷̵͞l̷̷̶͜҉,͜͞͏ ̡́͢҉̨k̶̢i̶̢͠l͘͜͡͞͡l̡͝҉,̢͟ ̷̡̨͘͡k̴̕҉̀i͜͜l̀͘̕͝l҉̷,̷͟ ̵̢̧k̷̷̀҉̕ì͟͝͝l͏ļ̸͠,̸̷̡͜͜ ҉̨̡͝k̶̢í͟l̡͝l̛͟,̛̛̕͢ ̵̶̨͡͞ķ̵͜͝ì̡͝l̸̡̀͢͜ĺ͟,̨̢͘͜ ̴̧͠k͞i̴̸̕l̶̡͘ĺ̴͟͝,̸̨͟ ̸͘k̷̨̛̀͏i̴͢͝͞͝l̨̨l͏,̷̕͠ ̢̡́̕͜k͏̸i̴͡͠l̵̛̀͢l̡̡͘͜,̧͞ ̶͟ḱ̷̵͞i͟͝l̛l̶͢,͟҉ ̢̧͘k̶̶͝i̛l̶̶̸͝l̵̸̛̀,̛́͞͠͡ ̛̀͡͞͞ḱ̸̵͠ì͘͜l̢̕͡l̀̕͝͠,͏̵̴̛͢ ͡͞k҉͏į̴̧l҉̴҉ĺ̢͟͡͠,̶̵̨̛ ̢͠͝k͘͢҉i̢̕͘͠͡l̡͡͡l̀͘͟͡,̡́͠ ̶̀ķ̶̸҉í̡͡͞͏ļ̕l̛͜,̷̶̧ ̨͞ķi̶̕l̵̢͝ĺ̴̨͟,̸̨̧͡ ̸̡́͝͡k͘͞i̛l̴͠l̡̛,̨̧͠ ̀͡k̨͏҉̛͜i͏l̡̢l҉̷̧,̡̡̛̀͠ ̴̡҉̀k͟͠͝i̡̛͘l̢̨͞l͏̧,͘̕ ̶̨́͢͞k̶͘͜i͘҉̵̨l̸̶̡̛l̷͜,̸̢̀̕͝ ̢̀͟k̶̴͝͡͠ì̵̶̶̷l͝͠ĺ̴̀̕,̛̛͡ ҉̶҉k̸̛͘͘į͢͠l̨̧͜͟l̸̢͡҉,̛́͜͝ ̸̷̧͡k̵̡̛̀͘į̶̕l̵̀͢͟l͏̡̡̀,̨͡҉ ̵̧k̶̀̕͡͡i̕͠l͏͟͞l̸,͏̷̢ ̛͏͏҉̀k̕͜҉͜ì͜l̷̴̴̡͠l̷͡͠,̵͘͞ ̧͢͜͞ḱ̕i͢҉͠l̵̷̀͜l͢҉̵̴̷,̛͜ ̷̸̡̡͞k͢i҉͞l͢҉͏̢̀ļ̸͡͏,҉̛ ̢̢͠k̴̡͜͠i̸̡͘l͠҉͞l̀͝,̡͜ ̵͢͞k̀͟͝i̢͜͜͞l̷̢̨͟͞l̀͜͡͞͠,̷̛͜͝ ͢͝k̴̛͢͠i҉͝ļ̶͟͢l̶͘͜,̵҉͡ ̢̨́k̨̛̕i̧̢͜l̶̸̛͝͝l͟͠͏,͠͠͠ ҉͘k͘͏̨́í̴̵͘l̶̶̸͡҉l̸̡,҉̧ ҉̵̡̕͢k̷i̵͢͝l̴̢̡ĺ͢͏̛,̵͡͠ ̶͢k̷̀͜͝͠i̕l̸̀́͠l͏͡,̀͜͝ ̵̴̨k̴̢͠i͟҉̸͝ĺ̢̀l̶,̴̡ ̨͢͜͟k̶͢҉̶i̡҉ĺ̶̡̨l̢,҉̸͝ ̵̨̡͟͞k̡̧̕͟͟į́l̵̨͘͝͠l̸̴̛̕,̴̨̢̡ ̴k̡̀͜i̴̵͜l̴̸̵̕l̴͘͜͡,͜͠͡͞ ̴̶̶͡k̨̛͠ì̴́l͞҉҉l̵̢͡,̸ ͠͠k҉͘͡i̕͞҉̷̕l̴͟ļ̛͠,̢̢͘͠ ҉̀͜k͝i̸̢̛͞l͘̕͠l̷͜,̴̡̛́ ̢̛͠k̢̛͢͝͝i̢̛͘ļ̶͠͞l̸̕,̸̸͘͘҉ ̶̵̨͜ḱ̡̕͢͞i̸̷l҉͞l̛͘͝,̛͜͠ ͝͏k̵̨͝i̴͡l̶̷̵͜͞l̨͡,̸͜͞ ͜͠k̢̨̀̕í̶̀͞҉l̡̕l̵̨̨͟,́̀ ̨͡͡҉k͘͜i̧͏̀l̴͞͞҉̶ļ̷̡͡,̢̢͝ ̷̨̧́̕k͘͏̴͢҉i̢̛̛l͏̴l̶̛,̨̧̛̕ ̧҉̧k̷̡i̸͡͏l̸͜ĺ̸̢̛͠,̨̕͞ ̶̵̢̕k̕҉̛ì͢҉̡̕ļ҉̀҉l̶̷̀͞,̴ ̀͝k͡͠҉̀i͟͞l̴̡̧̛͜l̨̡̀̕,̷̛͏̡͠ ͢͏̷̀͟ḱ͘͠͞i̷̢l̷͟͏l̕͟͞͏,̴̀͟͠ ̀̕͜k͏̷͘i̶̧͘l͟͡ļ́̕͝͞,̶͏̸ ͠͏̕͡k҉̴i̴̴͡͝͝l̵̢͡l̀͢͜͜,̢ ̴̸́͝ķ̵̛̛́i͏̢́l̵̀̀͘͝l̸̴̵͘͟,͏̸̀̀͝ ̷̕͜͡͝k̢͘͡i̴͜l̴͞l̵͟͝,͠҉̵̧̛ ̵̡̡k҉̶̡̧͜i̵̧̛͟ĺ̨͘l̵̀,̴̢͜ ̢҉̢ķ̴̕͜i̷̢l̀̀͘l̴͢,̸̡́͢͝ ̷͞͏͏͏k̷̨ì͟͡ĺ҉͠l̷̴͝,̴̶́͘ ̸̨̀͝ķ͞҉i̵̷̢͢l̷̷̛͡͞l͡,̡͜͠ ̧̕͞ķ͞͞҉i̶̶̶͝ļ̴͝l̨̛͝,̶͞ ̧͜k̷i͏͏̛l̶̢͞͞l̀͞҉̶,̛̕͟͟ ́͢k̸į̡̛̀͡ĺ̸̡l̸͟,̸̨͢͠ ̡͝͏̧̕k̴̵̢̢i̶̧l̶̶̸̀͟ĺ,̴̀͞͡ ̷k̸̵͞i͏̧l̸͜͜͠͠l̸̴͜͞,̵̵́͝ ҉҉k̷͟͏́i̢̕͝l͏҉̷̡͝l̨̧͢,͞҉ ̶k̡͝i̕͏ĺ̷̴͟͞ĺ̶͢͞͠,̷͡ ̡̢͢͡k̴͢͜i̧̛̛͏ļ̀l͢͞,͡ ̶͘ķ́͘͜͠i̸̛͟l̢̡͘l͟͞,̨̀̀͘ ̀͡k̵̢̕͜͡i̵͘͢͟͡l̨̢͟ļ҉̡̀͏,̵͢͠͡ ̵̢̢̀̀k͟͏͏́͘ì̷͠ĺ̨͜͡l̶̛,̵͘͜ ̴̢k̶̛͘͝͞i͏́l̷̡͟͟͝l͏̸,͘͘ ͏͏̀͝ķ̡͢҉i̴͢͏̕ļ̡͝l̸̴̀̕͢,̧́ ̡̀͞͠k͘͘͝͞͡i̧͘͞͞͝l͠l̵͞,̶̀̕͜ ̛̕k̶̷̸̛i̴͘͟͟l̕l̸͜҉̡,̡̀͟͡ ̸̸̡̀͟k̨͞҉͏í̛҉̷ļ̵́͡l̕͢,҉̀͝ ̷̧́͝͝k҉̶̡̀͠i̴͢l̸̛l̡̛̀͡,̴͜͜ ́҉̵k̡҉i̢̡̕͡͞l̸̢͜͞ĺ,̡̨͘͞ ̡̛ḱ̛͘͜i̸͟͝l̵̵̷̢l͏̴̷͞͡,̷̛͘̕͡ ̷͢k̀͡͠i҉̷l̴̀l̴̶̨̧,̸̕͡͝ ̧̨́͜͡k̛̀͡i҉̀l͢҉̴̢ĺ͠͏̛͡-̴̡̀_

Without warning, the voices went silent and everything on stage returned to its natural state. Slowly, Gilbert dropped his hands from his head and got back to his feet. He was panting for breath, but he still managed a weak smile at Feliciano and Kiku.

"I guess that wasn't so-"

 _ **KI̡L̛L ͝EV̸E͢RYON͘E.̨ ̢L̛E͞ĄV͞E̢ ̧NO̸ ̡ON͡E ́ALIVE҉ ̕I͝N THE͡ ͜HEAR̷TŞ ͢KIN̨G͢D͠ÒM͞.͘**_

The volume of an infinite amount of voices all screaming one command knocked Victoria back and ripped a cry of agony from her throat. She struggled to sit up, but when she did she saw that the damage had already been done. On the stage Feliciano pressed against Gilbert's chest and from his back Gilbert's sword gleamed.

"Ludwig… won't… remember…" Feliciano's whisper was the weakest sound Victoria had ever heard, yet it was not lost in the rising tide of returning voices. After he spoke, his body went limp against Gilbert's, lifeless.

When Gilbert screamed, the entire stage broke into incomprehensible chaos. Gilbert burst into a monster of shapes and sounds hardly distinguishable from the background or foreground. There was movement that looked like the removing of the sword from Feliciano's abstracting form, and from what had once been Feliciano gushed a wave of black liquid that drowned the entire room. Victoria hadn't even had the time to tell her body to move before the wave crashed down on her and filled her lungs. She flailed in the black liquid, but without any concept of what was up or down, there was nowhere to go.

Her body surrendered in stages. First her head, then her arms, then her torso, and then, finally, her legs and feet. Only her toes were left fighting when she felt a hand grab her arm and yank her out of the water and onto the unforgiving wooden surface of a boat. She coughed and groaned and cried and only Fortuna knew what else before opening her eyes and seeing a young boy dressed in a naval uniform laughing in what sounded to be relief.

"Sorry it took me so long to get'cha, Victoria!"

"Pe...ter…? How…?"

"Don't be givin' up now, you doof," he chided with a playful smack to the top of her head. "No matter what 'appens, you've got Peter in your corner, and you can't lose when you've got me as a friend!"

"Wha…?"

A distant roar tore across the surface of the water, violently tossing the boat between giant waves.

"Sorry, but it looks like we don't 'ave time to talk! You've gotta get out of 'ere!" Peter grabbed the ship's giant wooden wheel and fought to regain control of his vessel from the waves with a smile on his face. "But don't worry! We'll see each other again soon, promise! But while I keep Gilbert busy for a while, you've gotta promise me you'll do all the investigating you can! Never stop questioning, Victoria!"

The rocking boat tossed Victoria around, but once it had been taken back under Peter's control she was able to sit up and stare at the boy with wide, dumbstruck eyes.

"Peter, I…" She shook her head to regain her focus, and when she stilled her eyes were sharp with focus. "You're not getting out of this! The next time I see you, I'm going to question you for hours and hours, and that _is_ a promise!"

Peter laughed. "I'll take it! See you next time, then!"

A portal opened up beneath Victoria and she fell into voices soaked with concern.

"Victoria? Victoria?"

"She's breathing, right? Oh, please make sure she's breathing!"

"Heralces, I thought you were watching her! How could you let this happen?"

"I was watching her. There was nothing I could do about her passing out."

"You could have caught her, you bastard!"

"But if I had caught her, I wouldn't have gotten to see you move that fast, Lovino."

Victoria twitched her fingers and cracked open her eyes.

"Lovi! Lovi! I think she's waking up!"

"What? Let me see!"

She blinked her eyes open the rest of the way and saw a crowd of people she didn't recognize behind the four men who had accompanied her to the Fortress. A frazzled Lovino took the center stage of her vision, and she felt her mouth quirk into a quick, lopsided grin.

"Victoria, can you hear me?"

She nodded. A breath of relief was released from the crowd.

"Good. How do you feel? Are you hurt?"

Her head still buzzed and the wood of the chair she was sitting in dug into her back, but her lips could move and her lungs didn't burn, so she shook her head and answered, "No, I'm fine, I think."

Feliciano pushed his brother to the side and grabbed Victoria's hand. "What happened?!"

She looked at the hand holding hers, saw the pink J that permanently marked the skin, and knew from the lurch of her heart that would had happened in a place outside of time and space was not just a dream. Gilbert had taken her somewhere out of reach, and now Peter was holding him there, giving her what could turn out to be her final chance to understand Fabulacor's secrets.

There was only one person to turn to.

* * *

Notes:

 _Hearts Government_ : Again, my history nerd shines through. For all those who are curious, I imagined Hearts to function like this: While Parliament takes care of most of the politics, the court is heavily influential in the religious realm. As the High Dealer, the Jack is the mortal head of the main religion in the four kingdoms. The Queen is also highly involved in religious ceremonies. The King is to a lesser degree. Influenced by Heian Japan, the Vatican, and contemporary Germany.

In case it was hard to read, the last words of the curse voices were "Kill everyone. Leave no one alive in the Hearts Kingdom."

Tune in next month for _Chapter 7: The Queen's Lament_ (tentative title). This chapter is… pretty crazy, so I'm sure some of you _have_ to have questions. I know I've said it pretty much every chapter, but if you have questions or want to posit some theories, please feel free to post them in the comments or on tumblr! I would love to read them!


	7. The Queen's Lament

So I believe I'm over two weeks late now? Ho boy… I'm sorry. I'm doing my best, but I am just such a slow writer… w; Additionally, I just got accepted to study abroad in Japan next year, so even though I was already busy with work, I've now been busy getting all of that settled… I'm very excited to go, but it means I have even less time to write.

On the brightside, I have now finalized how many chapters there will be in this story! I was waffling between 8 and 9 for a while, but now I'm sure there will be 9. My hope is to get these last two done before I head to Japan in September, but we'll see, won't we?

One final request? I usually take months on these chapters, but I only got about a month on this one, so if you see any spelling/grammar mistakes (or any awkward sentences in general), could you please tell me? I wanted to get this out to you guys as soon as possible, and I tried to edit, but I'm sure I missed stuff. In fact, I think there are still mistakes in other chapters, too, so if you see any, don't be afraid to let me know. It really helps me out, honestly.

* * *

 _-Year 717 A.B.S.-_

"Wait….you did….you did _what?_ "

An's disbelief was about what Victoria had expected to receive after telling her about places removed from time and space and Gilbert clones and possibly almost drowning. She hadn't actually planned on telling An about what had happened back in Hearts only a couple of days earlier, but because of her own business or the business of others she hadn't yet been able to talk with the people she needed to about the whole thing, so the story came pouring out to An as the two sat in Victoria's bedroom.

"That's the thing, An. I didn't…." Victoria groaned in frustration and stood from her bed to pace. "I didn't really do _anything_. The whole time I was getting pulled and pushed and _played_ with. I… I yelled at Gilbert once, but it was childish, and I think all it really did was make the situation worse. Or maybe better? I'm not sure how much Peter did or when he did it, but now I am pretty sure he's trapped in some stormy nightmare because of me and-"

An grabbed Victoria's shoulders, stopping the pacing and rambling. "Whoa, whoa, I think you need to slow down, Victoria. Did you tell anyone else about this yet? Like Mathieu?"

Victoria shook her head. "Mathieu has had his hands full just getting the King of Hearts to agree to postpone any foreign actions until more talks have been set up, and I couldn't trust anyone in Hearts. No, I need… I need to talk to Nana about this. She's the key. Or she has the key. Either way, I know she's involved in all of this somehow, and I need to know how so I can solve whatever _this_ ," she gestured desperately at the air, "this damn thing is."

An held her firm grip on Victoria's shoulders as her eyes crinkled in concern. "Victoria, I… I am not saying I do not believe you about all of this, but… as your friend, I have to ask you: are you sure this is real?"

"Look, I know Gilbert abstracting into shapes and colors sounds crazy, and it is, probably, but-"

"Not just what happened in Hearts, Victoria. _Everything_. Before we went to Spades, you… I saw you fighting back fantasies everyday. When it is just you and I, you always have this look in your eye like you are a moment away from fading into a daydream, and while you get trapped in your thoughts, I never saw you fall into fantasies. You tried to stick to the rationality of your Uncle Vash's lessons on math and political theory, lessons that gave the appearance of the comfort of definite answers. But ever since we went to Spades, it has become increasingly obvious that not only is the world not definite, but you… you do not have the power or position to fix what is happening in Fabulacor right now."

"An, that's not-"

"I am just worried that because you feel helpless in altering whatever course Fabulacor is tumbling down at the moment, you have created this story about Fabulacor's past that only you are qualified to solve. Your nana, the Queen… she is not doing well. You have noticed, right? She tries her hardest to seem lively at public events, but her health has been deteriorating along with the King's. According to Michelle, she hardly left her bed while you and Mathieu were gone. I do not want you going to see her in such a state looking for something when…." She squeezed Victoria's shoulders, and her eyes took a desperate edge. "What if there is no _this_? What if there is no story to solve?"

Victoria searched An's eyes, hoping to find an answer. An was right about the Spades visit changing Victoria. She had been so careful to question everything over the years, but she had never stopped to ask if everything she had uncovered and experienced recently was connected. It seemed obvious that it had to be, right? How could the young boy described in the Spades Archive not be Peter? Wasn't Gilbert so frustrated with her because she had begun to uncover the truth?

The more she thought about it, the more unsure she felt. Gilbert hadn't said he was frustrated that she was right, just that she was questioning at all. What if she was connecting clues the wrong way, and Gilbert had come to her to prove that? Because of her interruption, she never saw the end of the story Gilbert planned to show her (and, based on his reaction to the final scene she did see, the end she saw had not been planned). So, really, she was left not knowing what all of that nonsense Gilbert had forced her through had been about. But then what was Peter's deal? It seemed like he had saved her, but she suspected that Peter was the one to draw out and force the performance of the final scene -the scene that nearly drowned her. And his final words -"Never stop questioning!"- they were in direct opposition to what Gilbert wanted her to do! She easily considered Peter more of a friend than Gilbert, but should she start to question the validity of that friendship, too?

"Vic? Victoria?" An slowly dropped her hands from Victoria's shoulders. "I'm sorry. You are spiraling again, aren't you? I'm sorry, I should not have-"

Victoria grabbed An's falling hands and squeezed them. "An, I don't… I don't know! I don't know any of the answers because no one will tell me! But there's one person who's always promised me that she's telling me the truth, even when she's telling me stories, so… so I'm going to go to her. I'll ask her my questions, and after I get her answers I'll decide what to do next."

This time it was An's turn to search Victoria's eyes. Victoria wasn't sure how long she had been silent in her thought spiral, but it took An no time at all to relax her brow and smile.

"What more can you do, right?"

Victoria smiled back at her friend and nodded. "Right."

The two hugged. Victoria was grateful because she needed a hug to boost her confidence in herself and her mission.

"Do you want to come with me," she asked An quietly.

An pulled back and shook her head. "No, this feels like something that needs to be between just you and your nana. Besides, I have to meet with Mathieu. Unlike my troubling best friend, I had a wonderful week with just the King and I, and I think Mathieu would like to know that."

"Yeah, yeah." Victoria tried to act offended, but even their typical playful banter was hard given her current mood. "Go tell Mathieu about your fun week while I ask my nana if she knows anything about the murder of some important people and the death of history as we... don't know it, I guess."

After a couple more half-hearted teases were tossed in an attempt to lift each other's moods, Victoria and An parted in opposite directions in the hall outside of Victoria's room. The walk from Victoria's room to her nana's could have been thirty seconds if she gave in to her desire to run through the halls, but she didn't want to cause any concern, so she took the five-minute walk instead. Michelle, posted outside of Nana's room, let her in with a smile and a soft warning that Nana might still be sleeping.

The first thing Victoria noticed when she entered the room was the old rocking chair as it sat in its usual position besides the large, floor-to-ceiling window that let in the view of the capital. From beneath knitted blankets and plush quilts that Victoria had fallen asleep in thousands of times with her nana the carved wooden frame of the chair poked out, and from these teasing glimpses one could tell the frame had been worked by an expert carpenter. What hurt about seeing the chair through the light of the early morning and the lazily drifting dust was that despite its plush coverings it was so obviously empty without Nana in it. When she opened the door, Victoria had wanted to see her grandmother rocking gently in the chair, smiling and telling her everything was going to be alright.

Instead, Nana looked painfully small as she slept uneasily in a bed big enough fit the whole Diamonds court.

Victoria closed the door and approached the bed quietly. She wanted answers, yes, but not if it meant stealing sleep from her grandmother who so obviously needed it. The pale light that had illuminated the emptiness of Nana's rocking chair now emphasized how frail she had become in the last few years. The progression of Nana's sickness was something Victoria had been wilfully ignoring, but An's words had shaken her to take full notice of what time had done to the Queen of Diamonds. From the dark circles beneath her sunken eyes wrinkles spread like vines across her gray face. Her lips, thin and faded, parted to exhale shaky breaths and then struggle to inhale them back in. Hair that Victoria remembered bouncing freely by her nana's chin in golden brushes now lay long and limp in silver tangles all around her. Seeing her so lifeless sent a chill down Victoria's spine, and she distracted her thoughts before they could dwell on the disease that had seized her nana's lungs.

Time passed. How much, Victoria was unsure, but after her experience with Gilbert time passing was just something she noticed with relief. Nothing was different about the moment preceding Nana waking up -Victoria had not moved or made a noise that would have suddenly alerted her nana to her presence- but the moment after Victoria felt a new jolt -something akin to excitement or hope or an anxious mixture of the two because when Nana opened her eyes, they weren't gray and lifeless like the rest of her. They were green and aware and warm, and as soon as they landed on Victoria she knew she hadn't lost her grandmother just yet.

"Hm…?" Nana's eyes squinted in confusion, but then shot open in realization. "Victoria!" Her thin lips spread into a large smile as she slowly pushed herself up to lean against the pillows on the bed's backboard. The movement ripped a cough from her lips, but her smile didn't waver. "What are you doing here? Wait, no, what are you doing standing over there? Come cuddle up next to Nana. There is plenty of room."

Nana patted a spot next to her on the bed, and Victoria filled it without hesitation. She had grown taller than Nana, so even as they sat she had to bend down to press and gentle kiss to her nana's forehead. However, no matter where she aimed for she got mouthfuls of long silver hair, and even after the kiss some of the hair clung to her glasses and ears.

"Nana," what was meant to be a playful scold was unraveled by a soft laugh as Victoria tried to push Nana's hair away. "When did your hair get so long and mischievous?"

Nana pushed down a laugh that surely would have led to another cough, yet still her smile didn't waver. "Oh, it has always been this way, dear. I just gave up cutting and fighting it and now it does as it pleases."

"Well, I'm not letting it get the best of us. Where's a brush?"

On the nightstand to Victoria's left she found a golden brush with an emerald encrusted on the back that she had to leave Nana to grab. Once she returned, however, Nana was happy to readjusted herself so that she was leaning more heavily on Victoria as Victoria ran the brush through her naughty hair. Nana looked so comfortable that Victoria didn't want to interrupt the peace with talk, but Nana was the origin of Victoria's own inquisitive nature, and so Nana had already opened her mouth after the second brush stroke.

"How was the Hearts Kingdom? It was your first time going, and, gosh, I haven't been in quite a long time. Isn't the castle lovely? Oldest one in Fabulacor, you know."

"Yeah, it was nice." After passing out, Victoria had spent most of her time in one room, so she couldn't say she had really seen much more than the entrance and the Fortress, but, well, what she saw had been nice.

"Did you get to meet everyone? How did Feliciano seem to be doing?"

Visions of Feliciano getting stabbed by a Gilbert on the brink of reality assaulted Victoria's mind, but she banished them quickly. "I only saw the King very briefly, but while Lovino was escorting me to the Fortress we pretty much ran into everyone else. Even as he was getting chewed out by Lovino for not being at the Fortress already, Felicano seemed to be in high spirits."

"I suppose it is true that Feli will always be Feli. And everyone else?"

"Honestly, they were far more relaxed than I expected for a Kingdom on the brink of war. It…" With everything else that had happened, Victoria hadn't had time to think about how irksome the behavior of the Hearts Court had been considering the political circumstances. She was stressed beyond belief, and they had been joking about philosophy and cats. "It didn't feel right. Nothing in Hearts really did."

Nana's smile fell in sympathetic confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I… When I got to the Fortress, Gilbert came up to me and-"

"Gilbert? Really?"

Victoria nodded.

To Victoria's surprise, Nana let out a sigh of relief. " _Finally_. He has been so scared of talking to you this entire time, but I guess he finally, _finally_ listened to me and-"

"Wait." Victoria stilled the brush in her nana's hair. " _He_ was scared of talking to _me_? Gilbert? The pale Joker with red eyes?"

Nana nodded. "Of course! You and I know there are-"

"Nana, when we met he, I, I -Nana, I think he tried to kill me! And if that wasn't his plan, he was at least trying to scare the shit out of me! And he succeeded! I was terrified while he trapped me in some crazy space removed from here and now!"

"Wh...What? No… no, that can't…." Nana stared at Victoria with wide eyes, and Victoria looked back at her as earnestly as she could. Nana had to believe her. "Why would he…?"

"Nana." Victoria put the brush down. "Why… Why has he been 'scared' of meeting me? He said something about me being 'trouble', but I have literally never done anything to him!"

"He… ah…."

" _Nana_." She grabbed one of her nana's hands and held it tightly between her own. "Please… _please_ tell me what's going on. Everything is in fragments! I know someone killed Peter hundreds of years ago, but he's clearly not dead _now_. Instead he just seems frozen at thirteen, but how? I don't know if Gilbert died, but I know he killed people, and now he seems to be frozen, too! There's all this talk of curses, but they don't make sense and I don't know how they connect, if they do connect at all and -and how do you even factor into all of this, Nana? You haven't been mentioned in the stories others have told me, but you know what's going on, don't you? How? Why?"

Nana didn't answer right away. How could she, considering the weight of information Victoria was asking for? As Nana's gaze drifted to the window by the rocking chair, Victoria picked up the brush again and went back to untangling the silver threads of Nana's hair.

"Victoria," Nana said, her voice delicate. "May I tell you a story?"

With apprehension in her gut, determination in her heart, and sadness in her eyes, Victoria replied, "I would love to hear one, Nana."

Nana nodded shakily as she kept her eyes locked on the window. "A long…. _long_ time ago, my best friend ruled the Diamonds Kingdom as its Queen. One night, as we sat together quietly in each other's company, busy with separate things, he looked up from his work and asked me something strange. He said, 'Lili, if something were to happen to me, would you be willing to take my place in looking after this Kingdom?'

"Apprehensive, I asked him what he meant. He told me he had been thinking in hypotheticals, and - _hypothetically_ , he assured me- he had been trying to figure out who, if he had the choice, he would entrust to protect the Kingdom he had grown to love. I asked him, I asked _Mathieu_ -why am I even pretending this is a mystery? You know it's Mathieu. It has been so long since I have talked to someone about all of this and they _believed_ me and-"

"Nana."

"And they weren't Gilbert or Peter and-"

"Nana, it's okay. I understand. Just continue."

Nana took a deep breath that rattled in her throat. "I...I asked him why he wouldn't leave the kingdom to Francois, and he said he believed Francois would need looking after in his absence as well. So I told him that I would look after Francois and the whole Diamonds Kingdom if something were to happen to him, but I refused to replace him. I said, 'I will keep everything steady and safe until you return.' The heartbreakingly warm and _grateful_ smile he gave me after that is one of the few clear images left in my memories.

"A week later, he vanished."

"What," Victoria cried in disbelief. "What do you mean he _vanished?_ "

Nana's shoulders sagged. "He, he vanished, Victoria. Not just physically but -but _entirely_. His portraits, his notebooks, his signatures, they were all gone in an instant. No one could remember his name or his face, just that there was a Queen because, logically, there had to be one. No one remembered him except for _me_ , and when I tried to tell anyone they would say that my words became gibberish to their ears. His memory vanished along with the record and the popular memory of, of what I believe Gilbert has told me ended up being over 1000 years of Fabulacor's history. People erupted into a panic, and Fabulacor quickly crumbled into the 100-year-long stretch of war and disaster. Now people refer to the entire century as the 'Blind Shuffle', but, in reality, the Blind Shuffle was that original erasure of memories and records. I lived for a few years after the initial event, but when supply chains got disrupted I stopped receiving the medicine I needed and I passed away, leaving behind a devastated Vash and a devastated Kingdom.

"One-hundred years later, I was reborn into a hand where Fabulacor had just put an end to the Blind Shuffle. After one-hundred years of chaos, the Four Kingdoms were anxious for stability, and the populace demanded a scapegoat to blame for their pain and grief. The Kingdoms noted that the Queen of Diamonds was suspiciously absent at the beginning of the Blind Shuffle, and so the Queen they couldn't remember was charged with the highest order of treason against all four states. Since they had neither a name nor a face, the whole Diamonds Kingdom was punished."

"That doesn't -that's not _fair_. How did they even punish a whole kingdom?"

"Well, a lot of shuffling of people and land had occurred over the Blind Shuffle century, so borders had to be redrawn at the end. The Diamonds Kingdom became completely landlocked, though even today it retains access to most of the Collier River, which does eventually lead down to the sea. All of this was decided just a year before I gained the mark of the Diamonds' Queen and, with it, all of the memories of my past life."

"So... you didn't remember everything until you became Queen?"

Nana nodded.

"Was… was it that way this hand, too," Victoria questioned further.

A bittersweet smile quirked a corner of Nana's lips. "It's like that every hand."

"Wait, Nana, how… how many hands do you remember?"

Nana tensed for a moment, but then finally turned her eyes up to Victoria. She was sure that there was a turbulent mix of emotions going on inside of her nana, but on the outside, all Victoria could make out was an exhaustion that seeped deeper than the skin.

"I remember seven hands spread out over eight-hundred years. Excluding that first hand, I have been Queen of Diamonds every time. I may have come back more than seven times, but I only remember when this Q," she raised her left hand to display the Q organically baked into her skin, "appears, so I guess hands I was not Queen do not get recorded, which may be for the best."

"For the best?"

Nana nodded. "The first time I regained my memories, I believe I was very active in trying to remind people of Mathieu because I wanted to know the truth. I didn't know what had happened -why he had disappeared or why history had been erased- so I hoped to clear the 'Unknown Queen's' name. Even then I don't believe people stopped hearing gibberish when I spoke about Mathieu, but what was worse was that they simply didn't believe me. No one ever believes me, so I am always stuck watching as people struggle to fill holes they don't understand. In that second hand, I remember most vividly trying to remind Francois over and over and over again about Mathieu because in that hand Francois had been reborn into a husk of himself as my King, searching for something, someone, he couldn't remember, but knew he felt missing. He threw himself into new lovers everyday, and it hurt to watch. I… I do not think Alfred was the King of Spades during that time, but… but even this hand there were stories of a young Alfred tossing balls and talking to people who weren't there. I have seen Mathieu's parents -such lovely people, I think you've met Berwald?- suffer a heartbreak of absence as well. They have all suffered, but I cannot help them, because the words I speak sound more and more fantastical as the years fall away.

"The other problem with time, however, is that it has been eating at the memories in this Q like moths at a scarf. Our minds aren't built to retain centuries of thoughts and emotions, and every new hand brings with it the threat of more lost memories. I, I don't, I don't even know what memories I don't _have_ anymore and it-" a swallowed cry broke up her words "-Did I lose something important? Why can I only remember silly little romantic tales of first meetings and dramatic smalltalk from that first hand? I've tried writing down what clear images I can, but the books always disappear by the next day. And the strangest part is that I know some of the memories I have from the very first hand… they can't possibly be mine, but I have them delicately preserved in my mind with all the others."

"What do you mean they aren't yours?"

"Victoria, so you remember the very first story I told you about Mathieu as the Queen of Diamonds?"

"The one where he was at the ball and first met Francois? Of course I do."

It was a story that had danced in Victoria's imagination for years, and even though she had tried so many times to banish it away as fanciful, it would always come to mind whenever she passed the old maple tree she had once searched for so tirelessly.

"I am sure Mathieu did tell me about that night, but… but not in the detail that rests in my mind. It is one of only a handful of memories that I have that I know, I _know_ , are left from him. Memories that he clung to -perhaps even subconsciously- because they were moments that shaped him. Memories of Francois and Alfred and Berwald and Tino and Vash and -and _me_. I can see myself in my mind promising to maintain the world he loved until he returned. Mathieu's memories were always proof to me that Mathieu wanted to see us again, that he wanted to _exist_ , so I never stopped searching for him all this time. I couldn't do it alone, however, and that is where Gilbert and Peter come in.

"Before you ask, I… I do not know how they became Jokers. If I ever asked, I've forgotten, and when I ask now they won't answer. After Mathieu vanished, I didn't see either of them again until the first hand I became Queen, but they _did_ remember Mathieu and they always searched for him when I couldn't. I never doubted that either of them were dedicated, but there was an extra desperation to Gilbert's search. I used to think it was because Francois and Gilbert have always been close friends, but… but I know there is more to it that I just can't _remember_. It's a memory that tempts me at the edge of my mind, but I just… _can't_ …."

Victoria rested her head on her nana's. "It's okay, though, isn't it? You did find him, and he's the Ace of Diamonds now. He's back where he belongs."

"But… but we _didn't_. When I saw him standing among Vash's newest batch of Guards forty-one years ago, that was the first time any of us had seen him in our centuries of searching. He entered the castle without any of us noticing, and if he did that… how could we have missed him? Did we really miss him for centuries, or was he really never there?

"I… I am so _happy_ to have finally found my best friend again, but…" The deep breath Nana took shook her body. "Things still aren't _right_. He… he trusted me with everything -his kingdom, his love, his memories- but he never trusted me with the _truth_. I can never ask him, but I want to _know_ so much. Why did he not tell me he was going to disappear? Where did he go? How could he leave all of us behind? How..." Finally, the sob Nana had been pushing and swallowing broke through. "How could he leave _me_ behind?"

It was at that moment that words finally failed Nana, and so she sobbed out frustration and loneliness that she had been trying to keep contained for centuries. Nana's desperate questions resonated within Victoria as they transported her to a time she also felt them wring her heart -to the day she lost faith in stories and refused to hear any more. In the midst of the hurt and confusion of a child's mind pushed to an unimaginable extreme, she had put partial blame for getting left behind in the wake of her parents' deaths on her Nana, and so she had ignored and refused her grandmother's attempts at comfort until she fell into a restless sleep. She wasn't mad at herself for how she acted -she had only been a _child_ \- but her mind began to imagine all that could have happened if she had remained open that day. She had felt so lonely and betrayed that day and for years afterward, but Nana had felt those emotions and more for _800 years_. No one could have understood Victoria's pain better.

She held her nana and Nana held her and together they cried. Crying brought relief, and relief made tears that started bitter turn grateful because Victoria finally knew that the aspect of her life that made her feel the loneliest actually brought her closer to Nana.

As both of their tears began to dry up, however, Victoria realized that a very key question remained unanswered.

"Nana, you… you're amazing. You've withstood so much."

"I would do the same again for anyone I love."

"I know. That's part of what makes you so amazing, but… but none of this explains Gilbert's actions towards me."

Nana smiled as she dried Victoria's cheeks with the sleeve of her sleeping gown. "This story has been quite the downer so far, but I always felt the part you've played in it is worth celebrating. You have been the only person -Peter and Gilbert excluded, of course- to believe my stories in 800 years. Do you know why?"

"Dear Fortuna, was I… was I there, too?!"

Nana shook her head. "The complete opposite! You, Victoria, are a brand new soul to the land of Fabulacor."

"I… what?"

"Fabulacor and her people get caught in cycles, so people like Gilbert notice when someone new arrives because their existence will always change things. Gilbert told me the last new souls in Fabulacor were Mathieu and Alfred, and when they appeared the Blind Shuffle threw Fabulacor into chaos. Gilbert was scared of meeting you because he didn't know what your existence would mean to a world he felt responsible protecting, but I," she tenderly cradled Victoria's cheek in her hand, "I was never worried. The girl who came into this world as my granddaughter after I finally married the love of my life can only mean a wonderful change is about to occur for Fabulacor."

Victoria smiled, trying to hold back a fresh wave of tears that reflected how overwhelmed she suddenly felt. "Is… is that why you told Yao to show me the oldest remaining record of Fabulacor's history?"

To Victoria's surprised, Nana looked confused at this question.

"I didn't ask Yao to show you that. Is that how you know about Peter getting killed?"

Victoria reflected Nana's confusion. "What do you mean? Yao said that someone-"

Just then a crash followed by a jumble of muffled shouts filtered in from outside of the door, putting both of the women inside the room on alert.

"What was that," Victoria asked.

"I don't know." Nana pushed aside the blankets of the bed and tried getting up, but she hadn't even gotten to her feet before a coughing fit curled her back.

"Nana!" Victoria scrambled to her grandmother's side and gingerly rubbed her back. "Nana, stay here. I'll go see what's going on."

"You," another cough, "can't go by yourself!"

"And you can't go at all right now. Just let me check it out, and then I'll come right back."

Frustration flashed across Nana's features, but still she relented once the coughing stopped. "Alright. Be careful, _please._ "

"I will. Don't worry!"

Victoria hopped off the bed, and just as she reached the door she heard Nana say, "I may not worry about what you mean to Fabulacor, but I do always worry about _you_. That is what it means to love someone."

"I love you, too, then, Nana," Victoria replied, smiling.

"Let me through!"

The shout came as soon as Victoria opened the door and the shock of it froze her in place. Slowly, painfully slowly, she turned her head in the direction of the shout to see Michelle and a couple other Ranked Guards with their backs towards her as they tried to hold someone back a few feet away. The sound of the door opening had frozen the group as well, and they, too, slowly, so slowly, turned to face her. The person they were impeding did not have to turn, however, because she was already facing Victoria. Their gazes locked and their minds hitched as the two of them tried to reconcile the person they saw with the ten-year-old memories they retained of the other.

"Ba...Babushka?"

"Victoria?"

Time had changed Babushka as much as it had changed Nana. Most of her was covered by either the Guards between the two of them or tattered clothing that hung loosely on her frame, but her face -where Nana had wrinkles, Babushka had scars, scars that told enough of a story to turn Victoria's stomach into knots.

Babushka reached out a shaky hand, and Victoria moved forward instinctively, but before they could touch, Michelle reasserted her position between the two of them. Victoria stumbled to a stop while Babushka turned a sharp glare to Michelle.

"You will not even let me touch my granddaughter," she roared.

" _No one_ is allowed near the royal family at the moment except authorized Guards, _especially_ not unexpected visitors from another Kingdom," Michelle shot back. Victoria couldn't remember the easygoing Michelle ever looking so on-edge and exasperated, and she certainly hadn't looked like that when Victoria first entered Nana's room.

"Babushka, what -what's going on? What are you doing here? How are you _here_?"

Her anger subsided into guilt and sorrow as Babushka turned her attention back to Victoria. "Victoria, I -I am so, _so_ sorry. Things have been -they have been _impossible_ , but I had to come, I had to come see you and Lili because I have heard, I have been told of Lili's state and I have to see her, _but_ ," the poison her tongue injected into the "but" signaled the return of her rage towards the Guards in front of her. "But they will not let me pass! I have traveled in secret across two Kingdoms, and they will not let me pass because I do not have the permission to be here!"

"That's not why I can't let you pass right now, Natalya," Michelle interjected. "I _should_ be arresting you, but-"

"Natalya?"

The soft voice that had been preceded by a chorus of coughs stopped everyone again. Nana had managed to get to the door, but even as she stood she had to heavily rely on the doorframe for support.

Seeing Nana surged Babushka forward, but again she was thwarted by Michelle and the other Guards. Her frustrated growl was nearly primal as she grabbed Michelle by the front of her uniform.

"Fortuna damn you all, _let me through!_ "

"I _can't!_ "

" _Why?!_ "

Michelle shoved Natalya off. "Because the castle is on lockdown!"

"Because of _me_?!"

" _Because Mathieu was attacked!"_

Silence.

"Mathieu…. was attacked," Michelle repeated, her breaths heavy and ragged. "He was attacked, he's not doing well, and anyone who doesn't have a solid alibi for the last hour is a suspect."

The two guards on Michelle's sides moved forward and grabbed Babushka's arms. Babushka stood still, her one eye not covered by a makeshift eyepatch wide.

"So….so I can't let you near Victoria or the Queen because…. because you are under arrest on suspicion of participating in the attempted assassination of the Ace of Diamonds." Michelle's body sagged and her voice grew soft. "I'm sorry."

* * *

Boom! And that's chapter 7! For those of you who saw my post on tumblr about how important this chapter is, hopefully you now understand what I meant. Lots of big reveals, and then I ended it with a cliffhanger. Ain't I just a stinker?

The next chapter, which will hopefully be out sooner rather than later, will be titled _The Diary_. Whose diary? Tune in next time to find out! Love you all!


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